Ascension, Part 1
by edgarmash79
Summary: In Age 790, Goku eagerly awaited the coming of a new Martial Arts Tournament to enter his new protégé, Uub. Elsewhere in the Eleventh Universe, a mortal with a unique ability was about to set in motion a sequence of events that could irrevocably change the fate of not only his universe but all of them.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:**

The following is a work of fan fiction. Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT, and Dragonball Super are all owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Shueisha, and Akira Toriyama.

Please support the official release.

 **Dragon Ball Super**

 **Ascension: PART 1**

 **Prologue – "New challenges far and wide! The start of a brand new chapter in the multiverse begins."**

 **Age 780, after the Tournament of Power concluded…**

The Grand Minister surveyed the remnants of the Tournament ring he created. A large structure built like a children's top with a pillar in the middle, the structure had been created using Kachi Kachitite, an alloy said to be the hardest metal in all of creation.

Despite its durability, it had still taken a considerable amount of damage from three Destroyers alone. Iwen of the First Universe, Arack of the Fifth Universe, and Liquir of the Eighth Universe volunteered to test the structure with a small exhibition match and even they had been able to damage Kachi Kachitite with their power. Knowing this to be the case, the Grand Minister was confident that mortals could fight to their hearts content and not hold back during the forty minute duration of the Tournament of Power.

Satisfied that the ring had endured as long as it did, his feeling of calmness differed from that of the Omni Kings and he glanced behind him to see their overabundance of excitement as they recounted every single fight they watched progress during the time limit.

They could be heard in the background, voicing their thoughts with their guards, while the four universes that were exempt due to their above average mortal rating, were deep in a thoughtful discussion about what they had witnessed themselves.

When the Grand Minister approached to greet the Destroyers and their Supreme Kais, they stood up and bowed gracefully at him.

"On behalf of the four universes that have been exempt, I humbly extend my gratitude to you and to the Omni Kings for such a grand display of showmanship, combat, and spirit from the mortals before us today."

"Thank you for your kind words, Lord Iwen," the Grand Minister said with a smile. He brought his hands from behind his back and placed them on the railing.

"Let us hope that this provides the needed motivation for those universes to improve their mortal rating," he followed and both Destroyers and Kais nodded in agreement.

"I'll say," Geene, the Destroyer of Universe 12 piped in. His fish-like ears twitched as he gloated a bit. "I'm certain ol' Beerus will finally behave himself and not laze around so much in the future. Can't say the same for that pipsqueak of a Supreme Kai though."

"The Seventh Universe's act of compassion should also remind the four of you why your mortal ratings are as high as they are," the Minister reminded them and Geene's expression changed, his ears drooping slightly. He averted his gaze from the Grand Minister and cleared his throat, shifting his attention to his Supreme Kai and his attendant, giving them a nod.

"By your leave, sir, we will depart for our universe and continue our work. Thank you once again for hosting us," Geene said and stood beside his attendant, Martinu and his Supreme Kai, Ag. Ag used his "Kai-Kai" technique to teleport them back to their own universe.

Liquir, the Destroyer of the Eighth Universe, puzzled over the destruction of the fighting stage with a hand to his chin. His pensive look seemed to always amuse Arack, the Destroyer of the Fifth Universe and he crossed his arms, giving Liquir a nudge with his elbow.

"Aren't you Impressed that there are now mortals strong enough to damage Kachi Kachitite?" Arack quipped and Liquir grinned.

"Makes me wonder now if our own universes have warriors as gifted as the ones we've seen here earlier," he said.

"I do not overlook the possibility of course," the Grand Minister piped in and both Destroyers nodded.  
"I should have Ogma look into it when we return," Arack said, glancing at his Supreme Kai. Ogma was slightly taken aback from Arack's statement but he got the gist of the Destroyer's statement.

A thought had crossed Arack's mind and it seemed to resonate with Liquir and Iwen as well.

"That Son Goku fella, the 'Saiyan' was it? He's quite the interesting fighter," Arack said.

"Indeed. He's the first mortal to have achieved Ultra Instinct," Iwen said and the three Destroyers agreed.

Iwen reimagined the intense fight between Goku and Jiren the Gray in his mind. He pictured each detail of their fight with perfect clarity and although his smile was concealed underneath his body-length beard, the other Destroyers could tell he had that certain air about him.

When he pictured Goku's state of being after the limit breaking power of Ultra Instinct reverberated back on him, he crossed his arms, nodding. He felt in his mind that this was something he wished to explore further with Awamo, his attendant, and Anat, his Supreme Kai.

"Iwen's off in his own world again," Arack stated and it got a chuckle out of Liquir. The Destroyers occasionally enjoyed exchanging barbs of a humorous nature whenever they met. It reminded Liquir of a joke Arack told him about Lord Quitela and cheese and he chuckled a bit under his breath. When it got the attention of Arack and the Grand Minister, he quickly composed himself and they turned to Iwen to see if he has something to say.

"You seem more fascinated about Goku's fighting ability than we are, Iwen," Arack said and Iwen sighed, nodding slowly.

"I think that with proper training, I can help him control Ultra Instinct," Iwen said and the tips of Liquir's tails began to twitch. His ears matched the frequency of his tail twitching and the corners of his mouth contorted to a snarl. His tails would twitch whenever he would hear something that either piqued his interest or made him feel uneasy. His ears would only twitch when something began to aggravate him and push him to destroy the nuisance.

"I dread to think of what kind of threat a warrior like that would have if he mastered Ultra Instinct. I reserve judgment on such fighters but I would not hesitate to destroy them if I needed to." Iwen laughed a bit at what Liquir said and Liquir's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Your laugh is insulting my intelligence, Iwen. Watch it," Liquir threatened but Iwen shrugged his shoulders.

"I wouldn't worry too much about Goku. He's a kindly soul who from the looks of it only cares about fighting. A mortal like him with that kind of power could easily protect their universe," Iwen said and Liquir pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You're not seriously implying that you train him to control and master Ultra Instinct?" Liquir asked and even Arack's eyes grew bigger at the notion. Iwen nodded, arms crossed.

"It's not out of the realm of possibility. I believe Goku is an ideal warrior worthy of my training regimen. When the time comes, I will summon Whis to bring him to me and I will train him properly to handle the trials when he's ready."

Iwen commanded the harshest training regimen which even most of the Destroyers vowed never to suffer through again. Iwen could count on one hand the amount of people who at least tolerated his training regimen. The rest either gave up or didn't survive it. Remembering those training sessions sent chills through some of the Destroyers.

"I don't know much about this mortal, but if you're going to train him, we'll pray for his survival," Arack said, smiling but Iwen's own smile stopped it quickly.

"You still haven't completed my training, Arack," Iwen stated and Arack gulped. "You're still welcome to finish it when you have the time."

"I'll pass, thanks. Ogma, Cukatail, time to go," Arack said as he walked over to his Supreme Kai and his attendant. Moments later they teleported back home.

Iwen couldn't help but laugh out loud and Liquir's tails and ears twitched even more, vibrating violently. He even felt his right eye begin to twitch and he growled under his breath. _That damn training regimen. I'll never forgive him for that._

"I'll be taking my leave as well, Grand Minister. Iwen, please don't break him. I'd like to meet him at least once during his lifetime."

After Liquir left with his Kai and attendant, the Grand Minister hovered in front of him, hands behind his back.

"Is there a deeper significance to this desire you have, Lord Iwen?" the Grand Minister asked.

"The trials and tribulations of the Seventh Universe have been well documented in the grand archive, your eminence. Awamo has reported some a slight increase in activity in the Network of Fates. Things are shifting across the multiverse, your eminence." The Grand Minister put a hand to his chin and poured over this statement, then lowered his hand inquisitively.

"Do you feel that Whis's actions in reviving Freeza at Lord Beerus's request was a mistake on their part?" he asked.

Iwen shook his head. "Oh no, it has nothing to do with Freeza. What happened during their time years ago influenced their mortal rating of course, but I feel confident that their mortal rating should reach a satisfactory level soon."

"Yet you are still pre-occupied with something," the Grand Minister said and Iwen nodded. His strange eyes fell to the ruined ring and he gave a pensive sigh.

"This Tournament of Power has shown me that mortals are steadily growing in strength. The archives have been working furiously to update their books with these new developments and I wonder if this is building up to something far greater." The Grand Minister gave a thoughtful hum from his throat at the statement and put a hand back on his chin.

"Are you concerned this may dwarf the actions that took place involving Gowasu's rogue apprentice?" the Grand Minister asked and Iwen leaned forward. Anat and Awamo were in the background enjoying a friendly chat with the Omni Kings. Yet their joyful tone was eclipsed by the seriousness of what Iwen and the Grand Minister were pondering.

"If you are referring to the abuse of time and space, then no. Call it an old Destroyer's intuition, but the growing number of mortals with the strength to rival ours may lead to a grand event in the future that we may not be able to ignore. I shall have Awamo monitor the Network more closely when we return home."

"I see. So what counsel do you seek then, Lord Iwen?" the Grand Minister asked.

"No counsel, your eminence. None of this arouses my concern enough to warrant action from yourself or the Omni Kings. I pray that it may never come to that."

"Very well then. Please continue your work and we shall see each other again." The Grand Minister said and Iwen nodded.

"Anat! Awamo! To me!" Iwen cried out and both his Supreme Kai and his attendant made their farewells with the Omni Kings and bowed one last time before they joined Iwen.

"I've never seen the Omni Kings this content in ages," Awamo said in passing as he walked with Anat back to Iwen. He had a huge smile on his face that was almost echoed by Anat.

"Indeed. This Tournament of Power was exactly what our highnesses needed," Anat said and when they reached Iwen, they saw that his expression wasn't as joyous.

"Lord Iwen, is something the matter?" Anat asked and Iwen waved him off in protest.

"Oh nothing, just lost in thought. Pay it no mind."

"As you wish," Anat said and he exchanged a glance with Awamo. A thought did cross Iwen's mind before the Grand Minister sent them back to their universe. _I would hope for all our sakes that the Omni Kings don't grow too attached to that mortal._

 **Lord Belmod's world…**

While the exempt universes socialized in the Null realm, Belmod's temper exploded in his realm.

He lost. The Pride Troopers lost. _Jiren_ had lost.

Jiren the Gray, the one mortal Belmod knew had god-defying power, was eliminated by mortals from the Seventh Universe. He held a great deal of pride in Gicchin's best pupil. Jiren was a champion of justice whose strength was immeasurable and incomparable to anyone else.

He had the utmost faith in Toppo and the Pride Troopers. They were going to take part in this Tournament of Power and prove to the Omni Kings that universe 11 was the universe that would win and survive. They vowed that after this tournament, they would work even harder to raise their mortal rating.

But each time a Pride Trooper was eliminated from the ring, it stung him. He felt their losses as though they were his own.

This was his Tournament to lose and nothing, absolutely _nothing_ , would take that victory from him.

But that damn Son Goku, that persistent Saiyan, achieved the impossible and managed to not only match Jiren's titanic strength, but surpass it with that damn Ultra Instinct, a form of combat not even he himself has been able to fully master himself.

Every blow Goku dealt to Jiren, Belmod felt it too. Every moment that his universe wasn't gaining the upper hand and winning, he hated it.

He hated this feeling of loss. Although he had to accept that his universe was going to be erased by the Omni Kings, he couldn't imagine what not existing felt like.

When they were all brought back by the Super Dragonballs, he reappeared back home, surrounded by his harem of servant girls and Cae, his Supreme Kai. Cae could tell how defeated Belmod looked and decided to leave him alone and teleported back to his own world for now.

Marcarita eventually returned after the wish had been made, and she came back to greet Belmod, who was sitting on his sofa, leaning forward with both tufts of his orange hair in his hands.

A purple aura began to envelop Belmod and he stood up. He raised his hand at a statue in the corner, a sculpture of a woman clothed in a simple silk garment. He knew it was always there as he walked passed it. Energy pulsed from his hand and the statue was erased with Destruction energy, broken down into purple particles that floated away in the air before they disappeared.

He started destroying other statues along the wall, sculptures of people, animals, landmarks, whatever he could see in front of him.

It was not fulfilling his need. His rage hadn't subsided. There had to be more. He was so angry that he was almost bored just destroying inanimate objects. He wanted to _feel_ this anger, he wanted to see this anger cut loose and wreck things without _deleting_ them. His universe lost when it should have won.

He picked up a heavy object, a complex looking sculpture that looked like a large bear, but the way it was sculpted made it nearly indistinguishable.

Holding it in the air, he screamed and launched it against the wall. The statues were made from a similar material to that of Kachin but malleable enough that a chisel could still work on it. His harem girls were so terrified that they all huddled against each other in the far corner of the chamber, as far away from Belmod as they could possibly go.

Smashing statues and tearing apart paintings, Belmod threw anything he could get his hands on to smash them into pieces. He knew these could be easily fixed up after he calmed down, mostly because he wanted to break them again. When he hoisted a unique looking statue that stood nearly 10 feet tall and weighed several hundred tons above his head, it drew the attention of Marcarita who had been calm up until now.

"Um, Lord Belmod, that statue's over a million and a half years old. Are you sure you want to break that?"

Belmod paused. He looked at the large statue and could see for the first time how intricate the details were put into this. Whoever did this was a genius in their craft. This must have existed during the reign of the previous Destroyer and Belmod slowly set the statue back down and studied its face. It was of a warrior who lived eons ago, a champion of this universe during the former's rule.

His anger had left him now, and all he could do was breath out a heavy sigh. He kept looking up at the statue.

"Marcarita, return the girls to their planet. I won't be needing them anymore," Belmod said, his back was still to them as he spoke.

Marcarita didn't say anything and walked over to the harem, taking them with her as she left.

Belmod walked back to the sofa and slouched back down, letting his body go limp. He spotted a broken shard of one of the statues he smashed against the wall, amazed that it had flew all the way here. He picked it up to look at it more closely but tossed it aside just as quickly. He put his hands to his face as Marcarita came back and she casually made her way to the sofa to sit down beside him.

"I haven't been a Destroyer for that long, have I?" Belmod said through his hands.

"It hasn't been two hundred and fifty thousand years yet, my Lord," Marcarita replied and Belmod sat up to lean on his lap with his arms. He glanced down at his hands, clenching them a few times before he gave his attendant a sideways glance.

"It's pathetic, really. I've only been a Destroyer for such a short time yet I feel like I'm the oldest of them." Marcarita wore her best smile, but even that was hard for her to conceal the growing amount of sadness within.

"Is it time, then?" she asked. Belmod looked at her for a moment, then stood up. He walked towards an archway that led to a large bathroom. He stopped short of going in and leaned an arm against the opening.

"Get Toppo, it's time," Belmod said and Marcarita nodded. She stood up and tapped her staff on the floor and left the room.

 **Socializing on Netfiss…**

Toppo, Dyspo, and Kahseral were sitting at a table at _The Grand Trooper_ , the prime hang out bar for the Pride Troopers to socialize and wind down after each mission. Several drinks were served to them along with a heaping plate of crab legs. They raised their glasses in the air.

"To the Pride Troopers!" said Toppo.

"To Justice!" said Dyspo and the three brought their glasses together with an audible _tink_. Dyspo and Toppo downed their drinks but Kahseral just sat there, looking at his for a moment before he drank it. While Dyspo was the most cheerful of the three, Kahseral looked distant.

"Why the long face? We should be celebrating!" Dyspo quipped, tapping him on the back but Kahseral didn't say anything.

"Kahseral?" Toppo piped in and Kahseral snapped out of it, glancing at him. Toppo's reptilian-like eyes gazed pensively at Kahseral, wearing a small grin behind his large imposing mustache.

"Sorry sir, I'm still coming to terms with the fact we ceased to exist and yet we're back here on Netfiss," Kahseral said and Dyspo was slightly taken aback from the statement. He didn't want to think about that moment either. Eternity could feel like a fraction of a moment when you don't exist, when nothing else is left of your universe. A shiver ran down Dyspo's back and he shook his head.

"Hey, come on Kahseral, don't make me think with the glass half empty. That Tournament of Power with all those fighters was one of the best times I've ever had in my life!"

"I wholeheartedly agree!" said Toppo, signaling the waiter for another glass of a mixed drink. Netfiss had similar versions of alcohol as those you would typically find at a bar in the Seventh Universe. A bar for people to socialize in was one of the most common sights no matter where you'd be travelling to.

When Toppo received a fresh glass of scotch with ice cubes in it, he took a sip and set his glass down, crossing his massive arms as he lounged back in his chair.

"What I shall take away from this is that we gave it our best effort, as we have always done as Pride Troopers. We've shown the other universes what we fight for and why we should not be underestimated. I will always be proud of every one of you for being a part of this great team."

"Hear hear!" cried Dyspo as he hit the table with the palm of his hand. Dyspo got a fresh glass of gin and downed it quickly, the liquor hitting him quickly in a way that he enjoyed, and he slammed the glass down on the table right as soon as he downed the drink.

"Dyspo, I think you should slow down with those. You've always been a light drinker. Last thing we need is to drag your drunken self out of here," Kahseral said and Dyspo laughed. Kahseral could tell that Dyspo's cheeks were getting rosy with his growing state of inebriation and worried that he might have overdone it.

"I want to have a good time. Besides, we're popular now, right Toppo?" Dyspo said, referring to the fact that earlier today after everyone came back from the null realm, the Pride Troopers were greeted by thousands of adoring people, cheering them on and congratulating them on a hard fought battle. Toppo was surprised at how many people admired their determination and he was overwhelmed by the number of requests people were making to join the Pride Troopers and fight with them. That nearly brought a tear to his eye as he felt that this Tournament of Power changed things for the better. He rested an arm on the table and looked at his comrades with a serious expression.

"The next few days are going to be busy for all of us. We've become the center of attention and we should consider the fact that people now want to join the Pride Troopers and make this the biggest organization in the universe to preserve justice and to smite evil."

Dyspo gave a couple hard taps on Toppo's shoulder and laughed.

"You're damn right this is going to be huge! We'll have numbers in the hundreds, possibly in the thousands within the next few years that no evil bastard will even want to step foot within a civilized planet unless they want to piss us off!" Dyspo cried out and he was starting to draw looks from the other patrons.

The doors to the bar opened and two members of the Pride Troopers, Cocotte and Kettol, walked in. They were still dressed in their red and black spandex uniforms with white gloves and white boots when they walked over to Toppo's table. Kahseral stood up and saluted them, while Dyspo drunkenly waved at them, almost falling out of his chair. Toppo stayed in his chair and nodded at the two as they approached him.

"General Toppo, we bring news of a transfer," Cocotte said.

"A transfer?"

"Tupper and Vuon have requested a transfer to the maximum-security space prison to take over the duties of two guards who are retiring this year. The transfer request was approved earlier today by Warden Kutlerie and awaits final approval from yourself."

"Tch, let that smelly old fart get his own guards," Dyspo said, his speech a little slurred from the amount of alcohol he had consumed. Cocotte covered her nose due to the smell of alcohol on Dyspo's breath, yet Kettol was fortunate to not notice it yet.

"Pay no mind to Dyspo. I'll approve this request as it will serve as a fine example to the space prison that the assertiveness of the Pride Troopers will keep order within the confines of that facility and ensure that no evil-doer will attempt to escape. The prison will be in good hands with those two involved. Please relay my message to Warden Kutlerie as soon as possible."

"Thank you, sir," Cocotte said, saluting him. Kettol saluted as well and the two were about to turn around when a bright flash appeared in front of the Pride Troopers. Dyspo cried out, shielding his eyes as he tumbled back out of his chair and Toppo stood up. Cocotte and Kettol helped Dyspo back into his chair and Kahseral remained standing at attention. When the light diminished, Marcarita stood before them, holding her staff in her left hand.

"Lady Marcarita, it is an honor. We were not expecting you. Did Lord Belmod not accompany you?" Toppo asked. It was rare to see Marcarita travel solo, and even rarer to see the kind of expression she had on her face.

"Lord Belmod requests your presence at this time, Lord Toppo," she said and Toppo's face sank. He knew that whenever Marcarita addressed him as Lord Toppo, it only meant one thing.

"Hey, what's going on? I can't see," Dyspo said, rubbing his eyes as he blinked, trying to regain his sight. He held his head and he could feel it pounding as he let out a loud belch. Cocotte rubbed his back and Kettol put his hands together in a pleading gesture.

"Please forgive Dyspo, he's consumed a little too much," he said and Toppo sighed, glancing at Dyspo. He tried to warn him about drinking too much too quickly, but Dyspo dismissed it each time, underestimating the fact that he really was a lightweight when it came to drinking alcohol.

"Allow me," Marcarita said and pointed the tip of her staff at Dyspo. With a flash of light from the sphere at the end of her staff, Dyspo sobered up quickly and shook his head.

"Huh? Wha?" he said and saw Marcarita standing in front of him. He stood up and bowed formally at her.

"My lady, it is an honor to see you at this time!" He said, almost forgetting that he was drunk seconds earlier. Marcarita chuckled a bit but regained her serious tone as she looked up at Toppo.

"It's time, my Lord."

"Time? Time for what?" Dyspo asked and Toppo closed his eyes for a moment. He turned to each one and placed his two large hands on Kahseral and Dyspo's shoulders.

"It has been an honor serving with the both of you these many blessed years. But now is the time that I must bid farewell to my status as leader of the Pride Troopers and take my rightful place as this universe's Destroyer."

The reactions from the four of them were as expected from Toppo, shock and worry.

"Really? So soon?" Kahseral asked.

"Come on, man, you can't be serious about this," Dyspo said, his voice reserved yet calm. "I've always been hesitant about this whole Destroyer training you've been doing but now that it's becoming a reality, I don't know how to feel about this."

"Dyspo and Kahseral, I built the foundation upon which the Pride Troopers have grown and it has become a powerful and respectable unit. I chose my Troopers well and I place my trust in the both of you to continue my legacy. I hereby appoint you both as co-generals of the Pride Troopers and leave all leadership duties in your capable hands. I am confident that the both of you will lead with example and dignity as I have, and that I encourage you to grow in numbers and bring more warriors of justice into this organization."

Cocotte couldn't hold back her tears and rushed to give Toppo a big hug. Even Kettol, Kahseral and Dyspo went to hug the big man before they stepped back and saluted him.

"What should we tell Jiren and the others when we see them?" Dyspo asked.

"Tell them good things are coming for the Universe," Toppo said with a smile on his face. He walked over to Marcarita and placed his large hand on his chest.

"Always remember your dedication to the Pride Troopers! For Justice!" Toppo commanded.

"For Justice!" the four replied and both Marcarita and Toppo disappeared in a flash of light.

"Well, you heard the man," Kahseral said and nodded to the other three.

"We've got our work cut out for us. Let us honor Lord Toppo's wishes and make this the best organization ever!" said Dyspo. They all saluted each other and Dyspo left a wad of money to pay their tab before they left.

 **The transition…**

Marcarita and Toppo arrived in Lord Belmod's chambers. Toppo's eyes widened at the amount of debris from all the destroyed items lying around. Torn paintings, broken sculptures, shattered pots, and vases decorated the floors and upholsteries as he carefully stepped around but even his big size proved difficult as he felt shards crack and crumble under his boots while he walked. He sighed and bowed his head at Lord Belmod.

"You summoned me, Lord Belmod?" Toppo said.

"Yes. It is time, my friend," he replied. Toppo said nothing but gave a small nod of agreement. He could see that this was a difficult decision Belmod had to make, the look of defeat written all over his face meant that he took this loss the hardest.

He and Marcarita noticed that Cae was already there waiting for them. Cae walked over to Toppo and extended his hand and Toppo took it.

"I look forward to working with you to uphold and improve the mortal rating of our universe, my Lord."

"Indeed. I will fulfill my duties as Destroyer and be as dedicated to preserving the integrity of our universe as Lord Belmod had during his tenure," Toppo said and Belmod had a huge smile on his face, eyes closed. He was glad to hear that Toppo was committed to this and that all his training had not been a waste.

"Then let us proceed to the ritual chamber," Marcarita said and led the three to a hallway past the bathroom.

They walked for a while, past many connecting corridors that overlooked other rooms which had contained decorations much like that of Belmod's main harem chamber. The end of the long hallway led to a dark room that was lit by ever burning flames. Each flame burned with a different color that corresponded with the trousers and mantle of the Destroyer of that universe. The flames flickered and brightened the center of the room, a glyph that resembled the symbol representing that of the Eleventh Universe, a glyph that sort of resembled Belmod's face while upside-down.

It began to glow a light blue color as Marcarita took her position. The glyph was large enough to incorporate four people within its circumference. Belmod and Toppo stood facing each other at two points along the edge of the circle, while Cae stood adjacent to the two in between, facing Marcarita.

Her staff floated and planted itself in the middle of the glyph and it began to glow brighter as she began to speak the language of the gods:

 _dezinavlag niaga ecnO, ecnalab dna ynomrah yhT, esir llahs rehtonA, llaf eno dluohS. tneb eb thguan tlahS, noitcurtseD dna noitaerC, dne ot htemoc emit ecnehW nageb emit ecnehW._

The glyph's light shone brilliantly, surrounding the four. The mantle and gauntlets that Belmod had worn faded out of sight. Toppo's outfit and physical stature changed as the dark purple aura of destruction surrounded his body. A mantle of red and black with a white circle in the middle of the front appeared on Toppo's broad shoulders, replacing the suit he had worn earlier. His pants changed to a baggy pair of red trousers with a black waste band and black boots on his legs, leaving his bare chest open. His pudgier build morphed into a slenderer yet imposing build as the gut shrank down to a six-pack and his arms and chest became much more ripped and muscular than they used to be. He took this form once before during the Tournament of Power when he was cornered by warriors from the Seventh Universe, forcing him to make a decision to harness his God of Destruction power. Now that the ritual was complete, his new stature became permanent and his gaze more menacing.

An eerie blue sphere of energy that emerged from Belmod's chest migrated to Toppo's, matching the blue sphere of energy that appeared on Cae's chest. It was a representation of the lifelink that had been transferred from Belmod to Toppo. From now on, should one die, the other would die as well.

"Lord Toppo?" Cae inquired, looking up at him. Toppo shook his head, his bushy moustache waving around.

"Toppo was my mortal name. But now that I've become the Destroyer of this universe, a more suitable name should be given. I had given much thought on this and concluded that Barbon shall be that name."

"Lord Barbon," Cae said, looking down pensively. He smiled and nodded. "I like the sound of that."

"I have one last request before I leave this place, Lord Barbon," Belmod, the former Destroyer asked, placing a hand on the large beefy arm of Barbon.

"Of course."

"There's a planet in this universe called Gardenia. I have no doubts that the inhabitants of this planet are genetically similar to those Saiyans we fought against from the Seventh Universe," Belmod said and Barbon's eyebrows rose.

"Saiyans like Goku and Vegeta?" Barbon asked.

"And Kale, Caulifla, and Cabba of the Sixth Universe. They're all the same to me in the end." Belmod sneered. "It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if all universes have a species that were genetically similar to these Saiyans and could be potentially as barbaric."

Marcarita took her staff and created a projection that displayed a planet. "We've been so pre-occupied with the Tournament of Power and the events leading up to it that I forgot about these Gardenians. After we returned, I had Cae investigate the planet and he discovered that the inhabitants no longer were simple farmers, hunters, and gatherers. They developed combat skills and grew stronger in a short period of time. I have no doubts that their strength is capable of rapidly progressing like those Saiyans."

Barbon pondered this news for a moment. It seems the inherent nature of the Saiyan race, regardless of the universe they inhabit, is their love of fighting and inflicting violence. Barbon pondered this a moment longer.

"Gardenia, why does that name sound familiar to me?" he asked. Cae was beside him with his hands behind his back.

"Are you remembering something, Lord Barbon?"

"Vaguely, though the more the name resonates in my head, the more it reminds me of this frontier planet that the Galactic Trade Federation recognized as a potential candidate due to their agricultural background. But now I must question whether these Gardenians are evil-doers like Goku." He wasn't 100% sold on Goku's nature and still held to the belief that he was capable of evil deeds. His defeat at the hands of Vegeta seemed to reassure that notion as well.

"We cannot overlook the possibility that they may grow to become a threat. I agree with Lord Belmod in his analysis," Cae stated, crossing his arms.

"Are you certain this is something you wish to task Lord Barbon with?" Cae asked and Belmod scoffed.

"Absolutely! They're too dangerous to be kept alive and if they continue to grow stronger, the universe could have a whole swarm of those Gardenians wreaking havoc with their power. Would you want a race of warriors like that roaming around unsupervised? No, I say we pluck out this root before it infects the rest of the garden."

"Are you certain your loss in the Tournament has not clouded your judgement?" Cae asked and Belmod grabbed him by the collar. Barbon rushed in to separate the two and put a hand on Belmod's shoulder.

"I'd have destroyed the damn planet myself if I wanted to, but I need to test Barbon's resolve and see if he is worthy of being my successor. This will be your first duty, Lord Barbon and my last official command as former Destroyer. Only then shall the torch be passed."

Barbon stared down at Belmod for a while. Belmod's face was resolute and determined. He was serious about this and no argument would've convinced him otherwise.

Finally, Barbon clenched his fist and put it to his chest. "Understood, Lord Belmod. I shall fulfill your request."

 **Age 784…**

Goku flew in the air with his new protégé, Uub. He held onto Goku's back as they made their way southward from Papaya island. They declared earlier that they'd work together to become stronger and shouted to the heavens, laughing afterwards. They were quiet as they observed the ocean waters below them and Uub looked down at Goku's face to get his attention.

"I hope you'll like my village, Mr. Goku," Uub said.

"Yeah, I hope you guys have lots of food, I haven't had anything to eat since this morning!" Goku replied with a huge smile on his face.

"W-well, we don't really have a lot of food, but my mother always cooks a lot for us."

"Ah, thank you," Goku said.

The two continued and Uub spotted an archipelago southeast of them.

"Those islands over there are where my village is!" Uub cried out, raising his voice in the strong winds as they were flying higher. Goku looked in that direction and could see the islands come into view.

"Ah!"

"Um, Mr. Goku, I was wondering about something," Uub said and Goku glanced at him.

"I saw some people look pretty upset when you were leaving with me. Were they your friends and family?"

"Yeah," Goku said. "But they'll be fine without me. There's a lot of good fighters who can look after them so I don't need to worry so much."

"Oh, okay," Uub thought about that little girl in the red gi who looked the most upset of them all and had a sad expression on his face.

"That little girl in the red gi looked so angry to see you go."

"Don't worry about Pan, she's a strong kid. If she wanted to, she could always come see us on your island at any time. And I did promise them that I'd visit them now and then." Goku's confident smile seemed to have an effect on those around him, reassuring them that things weren't as bad as they suspected. Uub took note of this and grinned again. He saw that girl called Pan fight that large opponent and defeated him in one punch, sending him flying off the fighting stage. When he saw her fight, he had a bit of a smile on his face. Another question was building up in his head now that they were close to his home island.

"What sort of training are we going to do, Mr. Goku?"

"Why do you keep calling me Mr. Goku? That sounds weird. Just Goku is fine with me."

"Right, sorry."

Goku crossed his arms. He had to think about this one for a moment. He knew he wanted to teach this kid to harness his power, but he never gave much thought about a proper training regimen. The growling in his stomach didn't help matters either as it distracted him the most.

"Ah, I can't think right now, I'm so hungry!" Goku laughed. Uub chuckled as well. He liked this man's laugh, it felt genuine and wholesome. He also liked his enthusiasm and his vow to become stronger together and it made him feel excited again.

Uub's village was coming into view and his face lit up.

"Ah! There it is! My village!" Uub cried as pointed to a large island that had an open beach area surrounded by palm trees and rocks. Goku flew down and landed as Uub jump off his back. Goku put a hand on Uub's shoulder with another hand on his hip.

"Take me to your village and to food!" Goku cried out, raising a finger in the air. Uub looked up at him and Goku's wide toothy grin stared back down at him. Goku sniffed the air and licked his lips.

"Wow, that smells amazing!" Goku cried out and Uub could smell it too. He had a wide grin on his face too as he clenched his fists.

"That's my mother's cooking! My favorite roast boar stew!" Uub said and he started in a run down the open path that led to his village.

"Ah, wait, let me catch up!" Goku cried out and ran after him.

The path leading to Uub's village was short and narrow, since the foliage gave way to a large open area where a row of huts and rock formations were coming into view. Uub had slowed himself down to a walking pace and Goku caught up to his right. The layout of the island brought back memories of his childhood as he was busy training by himself for the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament.

When they reached the clearing, Uub could see some of his villagers strolling around and minding their own business, the women carrying large jugs of water on their heads, with a mule pulling a cart full of fruits and vegetables following behind them.

When a couple of the adults spotted Goku and Uub walk into view, they called out to the other villagers and they all rushed to greet them.

"Hi everyone! I'm home!" Uub cried out, waving at them.

"Uub! Welcome back. How did it go at the tournament?" Said an elderly gentleman, using a walking staff to hold himself up. He had a hand on his lower back to dull the pain he was feeling, but his enthusiastic smile was still able to keep his mind off it now that he saw Uub again.

Uub was hesitant to speak, knowing that he didn't win the prize money in the tournament and wasn't sure how to break it to the villagers. He put his hands together and bowed deeply at them.

"I-I'm sorry, everyone. I wanted to win the prize money to help us buy more food, but I couldn't do it. Please forgive me!" Uub's voice was shaking but Goku ruffled his mohawk. Uub straightened up as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, almost shedding tears.

"Hey, don't worry, I told you I'll take care of that," Goku reassured Uub and he nodded.

"Who have you brought with you?" said a voice from the back of the group. A large rotund man with an imposing figure and an ancient looking face approached the pair. His garb was different than that of the villagers as there were no straps over his shoulders and the pattern on the cloth that he wore around his waist that draped in front of him over his white pants would indicate that this was an important figure. He also wore a crown of feathers and bones on his head.

"Yo!" Goku said, raising his hand to say hello.

"Ah. This is our village chief, Pella," Uub said. The chief eyed Goku for a moment and turned to Uub, putting his hands behind his back.

"This is Goku, he's going to live with us to help me train and become stronger," Uub said and the chief raised his eyebrows.

"Uub, you do know about our village's rule with regards to bringing outsiders here, remember?" the chief asked and Uub's eyes widen. He forgot about that part completely.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry, chief Pella! I didn't mean to! I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

"What's going on here?!" a woman's booming voice yelled from behind the chief. A plump dark-skinned woman made her way past the chief, wiping her hands with a cloth. She slapped the cloth onto her shoulder and stood beside him.

"Mother!" cried Uub as a huge smile crossed his face.

"Are you seriously going to keep this gentleman from living here? It seems Uub has made himself a friend. What harm will it cause us to have another mouth to feed?"

"The rules are the rules, Pinappa," said the chief, crossing his arms. Pinappa smacked him in the back of the head with her open palm and he grabbed the back of his head. His crown fell off and hit the ground and some of the villagers gaped and gasped, while others stifled laughter. It wasn't the first time the large woman gave the chief a good smack on the head.

"Idiot! You and your rules, how often do I see you breaking them yourself?" She yelled in his ear.

"But that was only one time!"

"I don't want to hear it! Uub, come here," she called and Uub ran over to her. She looked him over and saw that he had a few bruises on his arms and legs, then turned to Goku. She eyed him suspiciously and it made Goku think back to all those times Chichi gave him that look when it came to training or when Gohan would come home with a splinter. She walked over to Goku and glared up at him.

"You the one roughing up my baboo?" She said, hands on her hips. Goku waved his hands in front of him.

"This was during our fight in the Tournament, I swear!" Goku said and Palma narrowed her eyes. She wasn't sure if she trusted this stranger and turned her gaze back on Uub. She took his head and looked it over, closing her eyes. She felt around and then breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're more durable than I thought, thank Kami," she said, glaring at Goku.

"Mother, he said he's going to help me train to become stronger so I can protect the village!" Uub pleaded and Pinappa relaxed her face while still staring at him. Goku's stomach growled even louder and her eyes widened a bit.

"Well, I suppose I should feed you while you're here. But you'd better give me a good reason why you want to stay here," Pinappa began but the chief cut her off by clearing his throat.

"I will have the final say on that," he said sternly and Pinappa shot him a look, scoffing. She walked back to her hut and removed the lid off a large black cauldron to stir the contents of her stew. Uub's father came into view, a man smaller in size than Pinappa and his face lit up as he saw Uub.

"Hi father!" Uub smiled.

"You must be Uub's papa! I'm Son Goku, pleased to meet 'cha!" he said, extending his hand. The father shook it with a pleasant look on his face.

"Welcome to our village, Son Goku. I'm Manago, the village chief over there is my brother-in-law. You don't need to worry about the chief's rules. The fool's leery about every stranger that comes in the village. He still thinks the milkman is an outsider when he comes here every day."

"Ah, thank you!" Goku said and Manago led them to Uub's hut as the villagers dispersed and went back to their activities. Some of them still watched Goku and a couple of old women approached him with smiles on their faces.

"My my, who is this handsome young fellow?" said one of them. The other took Goku's arm and squeezed his muscles, then began to blush and caress her face with her hands.

"Ah, to be young again and have a strong man such as yourself," she said in her sweetest voice but Goku looked back at them confused.

"Um, I'm actually married, sorry!" he said, and the older women laughed.

"Who wouldn't want to marry you, young one! She must be a lucky gal," said the one who still had a hold of his arm.

"With a strong body like that and a young girl who's probably quite the fertile one, I'd say you probably have eight to ten kids by now," said the other old woman and Goku blushed heavily. Uub and his father's jaws dropped at the old woman's comments and Goku pulled himself away from them to rush back to Uub.

"I have to join Uub, sorry!" he cried and ran quickly to Uub. The old women laughed and went back to their huts. Goku glanced back, a little confused.

"What did they mean by 'fertile'? I ain't got that many kids, I only have two," he said and Manago eyed him warily. _He doesn't know what fertile means?_

When they reached the hut, Goku plopped himself down on the ground, cross-legged. Manago and Uub took a seat beside Goku while Pinappa retreated to their hut. She emerged a moment later with a few bowls and two twin boys several years younger than Uub behind her. They were still clinging onto Pinappa's apron when they noticed Goku. They shied away but she brought them forward and sat them opposite of Goku, Uub and Manago.

"Oh. Hey Uub, why don't you show them your power?" Goku said and Uub stood up.

"Yeah! Mother, Father, watch how strong I've been able to get!" He said and clenched his fists. Goku didn't think to warn the other villagers how powerful Uub really was or how much the output of energy was going to be, but he waited to see the kind of strength Uub was going to display for his family in front of him.

Uub cried out for a few seconds, but nothing happened. He kept yelling and tried to bring out his power by shaking his fists vigorously up and down but not a single speck of energy manifested. All that was felt was the warm breeze blowing through his hair. Uub opened his hands and looked at them.

"But I was feeling so much power inside me earlier today!" Uub said sadly. He hung his head as he walked back to his father and sat down. Goku crossed his arms and had to think about this for a moment. Then it clicked.

"Ah, that's because I had to make you angry to make you use your power," he said and that got an angry glare from Pinappa and a surprised look from Manago.

"You say something to provoke my little baboo now?" Palma scowled and Goku realized the hole he was digging himself into.

"I, I didn't mean to, honest! But I had to be sure he had a lot of power, so I had to get him angry to release it!" Goku pleaded but each time it was making it worse as Pinappa walked over to him and leered above him with a glare that rattled Goku and he began to sweat.

"What did you tell my baboo?" She said coldly, a chill running down Goku's spine as he scratched the back of his head. Uub was bracing for his mother's wrath and dared not intervene. Even Manago had a serious look on his face now as he stared at Goku, waiting for an answer.

"I, um, I…don't remember…" Goku said, laughing nervously and Pinappa huffed, turning back to her large pot. She blew down on the fire to keep it going and lifted the lid. The fragrant aroma of herbs and spices mixed in with the vegetables and roast boar were making Goku's mouth salivating, his appetite growing even more.

"Then I guess you won't mind us eating while you refresh that memory of yours, then?" She said, spooning a bowl of her stew for Uub, handing him the bowl first. Uub placed his hands together and thanked his mother for the food before he blew on the first morsel to cool it down.

"Wait!"

"Oh? Something jog your memory now?" Pinappa said as she spooned the next two bowls for Uub's younger siblings. As she was spooning the stew in Manago's bowl, Goku shot up and stood firmly, hands rigid to his side.

"I, I said you didn't give Uub enough spankings and that his father smelled of poo!" Goku cried out, yelling the words almost all at once. Pinappa dropped the bowl into the pot with a look of shock on her face. Manago's eyes and mouth were gaping open as Uub inched himself away from the area, waiting to see what kind of wrath his mother would visit upon Goku.

What Uub was not expecting however was that Pinappa burst out laughing, nearly falling back into the hut's door, using the door frame to hold herself up. She laughed loudly, tears streaking down her face as she breathed heavily. Manago was as shocked to see his wife laughing out loud like this as he was to hear Goku's insult. Uub slowly made his way back beside his father and ate quietly.

After Pinappa recovered, she grabbed a stool from inside her hut and sat down.

"Oh my goodness, I hadn't laughed that much in ages!" She said, wiping her eyes and face with her apron. She fished the bowl she dropped in the pot, not caring that it was hot to the touch and spooned a bowl for Manago and he grabbed it too quickly, forcing himself to play hot potato with the bowl before setting it down on the ground, blowing on his hands.

"My little baboo takes after me a lot, he's very protective of his family," she said, smiling down at Uub. She grabbed a bowl and spooned a heaping amount of stew inside and handed it over to Goku, who happily obliged.

"Thank you!" he cried out and set the bowl down before giving his thanks. He blew on the stew before he took his first bite and he hummed gleefully.

"Mmmm! This is so good!" He said and devoured the contents rather quickly. He offered his bowl up to Pinappa.

"More please!" he said and she spooned another helping. What she wasn't expecting was that Goku was going through repeated helpings until she noticed that the pot was now completely empty. Uub and his brothers each had two bowls, while she and Manago only had the one. Goku sighed happily and tapped his stomach.

"Yummy! That hit the spot!" he said and leaned back on his arms. He looked up at Pinappa and got back to his feet.

"I'm sorry for having insulted you and your husband, ma'am," he said, bowing at them with his hands together.

"That's fine, I've heard worse. You should hear some of the things that come out of those old women sometime," she said and Goku glanced back at the huts he remembered seeing the two old women walk into. Pinappa looked at Uub and shook her head.

"I've been trying to teach that boy to have a thicker skin but even then he'll still lash out at anyone who makes fun of us. But I guess that'll take some time, right baboo?"

Uub didn't say anything and nodded quietly, looking down at the ground. Pinappa clapped her hands to get Uub's attention and he and the boys stood up.

"You three are on dish duty!" She barked and the three quickly took the pot, the bowls and the utensils and ran around the hut to the back where a water well was used to pump water to wash everything. She motioned Manago to join the boys and supervise them.

"I need a word alone with this man," she said to him and he complied, standing up to join his sons.

Pinappa and Goku walked around the village, the night sky now illuminating the island. The sun had set while they were busy eating and Goku was able to watch it slowly drift away beyond the horizon. He remembered times fishing at Mount Paozu that he could see the sun set behind the mountains.

He felt a lot of similarities between Pinappa and Chichi that it was like being at home again and it made him feel more comfortable that Uub's mother was a strong matriarch of his family and took care of them.

"How strong is Uub?" She asked him.

"He's really strong. He learned and improved really fast while we were fighting and I have no doubt that with the proper training, he will become the strongest fighter on the planet," Goku replied with a confident tone. He wasn't sure he was ready to explain to Pinappa Uub's mysterious power, nor could he bring himself to tell her that Uub was the reincarnation of the evil Majin Buu.

"He doesn't know I've noticed, but I have seen him display feats of strength that far surpass the strongest men of this village. I felt this child was the greatest blessing Kami could ever give me."

"Yeah," Goku said, putting his arms behind his head as he walked. She looked up at him again and could see that his blue gi was ripped in a few areas.

"Did Uub do that to your clothing?" She asked, pointing at his gi.

"Yeah. I'm really excited to train him and help him become stronger."

"I see. You definitely look strong but you have poor manners for a stranger. But I think I can be comfortable allowing you to train my baboo, just so long as it doesn't interfere with his work around the house and the village. Understand?"

Goku looked down at her, and she had a serious expression on her face. She meant business and Goku knew that.

"I promise, I won't let his training get in the way," Goku assured her.

"I'll have a spare bed set up for you tonight," Palma said and turned to walk back to the hut. Goku breathed a sigh of relief, glad to know that this was going to work out.

 **A young prodigy…**

A day after the World Martial Arts Tournament was cancelled, Trunks and Vegeta were busy training in the gravity room at Capsule Corporation. Their training had become so intense that their heavy blows could be felt across the whole building. It was a frustrating endeavor for Bulma as she worked on an engine in the main lab. It was raised onto a platform for Bulma to work underneath, lying down on a creeper that rolled back and forth. She made adjustments to the hardware while working on the calculations through her digital notepad and her laptop which was plugged into the engine's onboard computer to display their numbers.

Bulla, her youngest daughter, was sitting on a work bench beside a tool box. The table was adjacent to the platform, which made her able to reach into the toolbox to hand Bulma the next tool she requested. She could see her mother roll out from underneath the generator to sit up, extending her hand out to Bulla with a wrench.

"I need a screwdriver; can you get it for me?" She asked.

"Which one?" Bulla asked.

"Um, the Philips head, no, the flathead!" Bulma shook her head, frustrated. Another small tremor shook the room and the platform shook, jolting the engine up a bit. Bulma cried out when she saw this but breathed a sigh when it was still resting on the platform. She growled in anger as she clenched the screwdriver tightly in her hand and Bulla frowned. She didn't like seeing her mother get angry and she knew why.

"Ugh, why can't those two take a break for once?" She muttered to herself and she laid back down on to roll back underneath.

When she finished, she punched in a few buttons on the panel near the bottom of the engine and it started humming. But there were whirring noises that clattered inside and were soon making stop-and-go motions before a panel burst open above her and black smoke blew out from the broken section. Bulma and Bulla both winced when the panel blew open and Bulma let out a groan of frustration, dropping to her knees.

She brushed her hair away from her face and Bulla hopped down from the work bench to sit down beside her mother. They had been wearing matching one-piece mechanic outfits that zipped up all the way to the neck, the Capsule Corporation logo emblazoned on both the front and back of the outfits.

"We can fix it back up, mama," Bulla said and Bulma sighed.

"I've tried but the energy output is too much for the structure of the engine to handle. I can't get it beyond the 1200% increase that is needed to level off and stabilize in an endless cycle for it to work."

She stood back up and walked over to a white board that had equations and formulas written all over it, covering almost the entire board. Bulla looked at it herself but she was still too young to properly grasp the meaning behind what her mother wrote. She mimicked Bulma's movements as they both looked over the formulas written on the board. When Bulma got frustrated, she threw her arms in the air and Bulla ended up doing the same. Bulma glanced down at her daughter and saw that she was copying her. She chuckled went red in the cheeks, realizing how Bulla looked imitating her and she walked over to a blank table that had a bento lunch box prepared for them to sit down and eat.

"I've looked over the numbers and I can't figure out where I went wrong with this," Bulma said and Bulla looked at her while sipping back a juice box. Bulma opened her bento box and began to eat, muttering calculations under her breath. Bulla finished her juice box and set it down on the table.

"Can we get someone to help?" She asked and Bulma shook her head.

"No one here's smart enough to figure this out. Unless…" she paused, then shoved a portion of rice into her mouth. She snapped her fingers and took her cell phone out, taking a picture of the white board. She began dialing a number.

"Who are you calling, mama?" Bulla asked.

"Gohan, he's as much a whiz as I am at this." Bulma said and waited for an answer.

"Hello? Ah, hi Videl, is Gohan there?...What? Another seminar? Ugh…I know, but I need him to help me with something…he won't be back until dinner time…okay, sorry to trouble you, I'll call back later." She hung up and breathed a sigh. She walked back over to the engine but her eyes were too focused on her electronic notepad to notice the loose cables on the floor leading up to the generator. Her foot caught on one of the cables and it wove itself around her ankle, causing her to trip and fall forward. She let out a yelp as she fell forward and hit the floor, bumping her face in the process.

"Mama!" Bulla cried out, running to her. She looked at her face.

"Mama, are you alright?" she asked, a lot of worry in her voice.

"Y-yeah, I think so," Bulma replied and she felt her face. She winced heavily when she touched her nose and she panicked when she saw that her fingers were covered in blood.

"Crap, I think I broke my nose," she managed to say, but she was also beginning to feel light-headed.

Another rumble shook the building, even bigger than the one before and Bulla almost fell to the floor.

"Bulla, can you help me get to my feet?" she asked her and Bulla went to the cables that were around Bulma's ankle to try and loosen them up. The platform holding up the engine cracked and bent, giving way. It tilted forward in the direction of Bulma and Bulla and it started to fall. Bulma could see that giving way and its full weight began crashing down in their direction.

"Bulla, get out of the way!" Bulma yelled at her but Bulla was almost able to get the cable off. She pulled up the cable and Bulma managed to get her foot out of there, but there wasn't enough time for both of them to escape before the engine fell on top of them. Bulma was bracing herself by moving to cover Bulla so she wouldn't take the full force of the impact but Bulla looked up and saw the generator falling towards them. By instinct, her adrenaline kicked in and she made a hi-speed movement to get on top of Bulma and raise her hands.

Bulma couldn't believe her eyes as she saw what happened. Bulla moved so fast she couldn't catch it. One moment Bulla was at her feet getting the cable untangled, the next she's standing above her, and she caught the generator before they were both crushed. She could see the intense expression on Bulla's face as she held up the generator with ease, a feat of strength she couldn't believe her daughter possessed. The look on Bulla's face reminded her of Vegeta and for a moment she almost forgot that Bulla was half-Saiyan like Trunks.

Bulla threw the large object away from them, letting it crash down onto the floor a few feet away. Bulla kept the same facial expression for a moment before she started to feel light-headed herself and she fainted, collapsing on top of her mother. Bulma took her in her arms and hugged her tight, not caring that some of her blood was messing up her daughter's hair and she began to cry.

When Bulla woke up some time later, she found herself in the infirmary. She looked around for her mother and saw a nurse tending to Bulma's injuries. Bulma was sitting on a bed, a bandage covering her nose and a bandage wrapped around her ankle due to a minor sprain. The nurse wiped off the dried blood on Bulma's face and hands and checked on her one last time before she left the room. Vegeta and Trunks stood by the foot of the bed, getting a cold stare from Bulma. Vegeta crossed his arms and looked away, blushing, but Trunks was more worried as he saw her face.

"Mother, what happened?" Trunks asked.

"What does it look like? I tripped on a cable and fell face first on the floor, that's what happened," she told him. She kept the part about the quiet so she wouldn't worry him, but she wondered if she should tell Vegeta about this.

"Go wash up and get changed," Vegeta said to Trunks and his son nodded, leaving the room. Vegeta examined her face. He wanted to check her broken nose to see how badly she had hit herself, but she grabbed his hand gently before he touched the bandage to lift it off her nose.

"I'll be fine, it's not the first time I've hurt myself," she said.

"I'll get you a senzu bean," Vegeta said calmly.

"No, I don't want to waste those for something as small as this," Bulma assured him and Vegeta sighed.

"Fine, do whatever you want, I'm going back to the gravity room," Vegeta said, turning around, but Bulma gripped his hand tighter. She didn't want him to leave and she stood up, wrapping her arms around him from behind, being cautious not to put pressure on her broken nose. Bulla wrapped her arms around Vegeta's leg and he almost let a smile slip unnoticed. He put his hand on his daughter's head.

"I felt a spike of energy," he said quietly and Bulma's eyes widened. _He knows._

He turned to face her and glanced down at Bulla.

"What else happened in there?" he asked. Bulla tugged at his pant leg to get his attention.

"The big thing we were working on fell down and it was going to crash and trap us underneath it, but then I saw it on the floor away from us. I don't know how that happened, there's no wind that blew it away." Vegeta raised his eyebrows. One of the things that he felt was impressive was that Bulla was smart, very smart. She learned how to speak when she was only two years old, and she was able to catch on to complex adult words that she often heard her mother use when she was working with her father, Dr. Briefs.

Vegeta closed his eyes and knelt on one knee to be at eye-level with Bulla.

"Go play in your room, I need a moment with your mother," Vegeta told her and she wrapped her arms around his head.

"Okay papa!" She said happily and ran out of the room. Vegeta stood back up and crossed his arms.

"Is this the first time she's displayed this feat of strength?" He asked her.

"Yes, yes it was," she said and she could tell a smile was forming on his lips.

"Vegeta, don't," she said and Vegeta glanced back at the doorway.

"She has the noble blood of the Saiyan race in her and soon enough she will want to learn how to fight. She may be my little princess but it'd be a wasted opportunity if she didn't at least learn how to defend herself and become strong. If Kakarot's granddaughter can fight, so can Bulla."

"But I don't want Bulla to be a fighter, I'm leaving that up to you and Trunks. I want her to be as smart as she is beautiful, like me," Bulma pleaded, taking Vegeta's hands in hers. They always felt rough to the touch but there was always a gentleness beneath them whenever the two of them were alone.

"That's up to her to decide," Vegeta said and Bulma sighed, touching her forehead.

"She's still only four years old, you know." Vegeta scoffed at her statement.

"Tch. Saiyans train how to fight at an early age regardless of the sex they were born with," he said and Bulma sighed.

"Ok fine, but if she doesn't want to fight, will you let her grow up however she wants?" she said, looking up at him. He kept feeling uncomfortable staring at her bandaged face and he couldn't bear it any longer. That anything should tarnish the beautiful face of his woman was unacceptable. He broke free of her embrace and began to walk out of the room. He was too preoccupied with her injuries that he couldn't give her an answer.

"I'm getting you a senzu bean," he said.

"No, I'm telling you I'm fine!" Bulma cried out.

"I refuse to let you walk around the building with a broken nose," he stated and Bulma wanted to run after him to stop him, but she winced when she put pressure on her sprained ankle, limping once. _Ugh, fine, you win this time._

 **A Son family dilemma…**

Goten and Gohan shared a few laughs about the day before when the World Martial Arts Tournament was cancelled. Pan still wanted a good match and Goten volunteered with Trunks acting as the referee. It didn't last long as Pan knocked Goten down on the ring for the ten count. Goten remarked how strong his niece had become and both Gohan and Videl were proud of Pan's strength.

Piccolo decided to stay for a few days with them to keep them company and he too was at Chichi's house, tucking Pan into Goten's bed for now until it was time for them to leave for the rest of the night. Videl made Pan an early dinner so she could eat her fill, allowing the older folks to eat their dinner later. Chichi was hopeful Goku might get homesick and come back so she waited a couple hours before she started on dinner.

Videl joined Chichi in the kitchen, yet Chichi was still feeling stressed. Videl had to catch her from putting the wrong seasonings on certain dishes and almost confused curry with cinnamon. She could tell that Chichi was still upset about what happened yesterday, when everyone saw Goku leave the tournament grounds with a kid they've never seen before. Even stranger was when he said he was going to live with the kid at his island home.

Chichi didn't really touch her food and both Gohan and Goten looked at her with worry on their faces.

"Mother, you really should eat, it's not healthy to go to bed hungry," Gohan said to her.

Chichi sighed. Videl poured her a cup of loose-leaf tea and handed it to her.

"I'm sure father has his reasons, right?" Videl said, looking at Gohan for reassurance. She seemed to understand more the dynamic her husband and brother-in-law shared with their father but seeing the look of abandonment on Chichi's face wasn't helping alleviate the situation.

Chichi sighed again, then took a sip of her cup. She winced and fanned her lips with her hands, carelessly taking a sip of the hot liquid without blowing on it first and she glared down at the cup. Her anger started to show full-force now.

The door at the far end of the living room opened and Piccolo stepped through, closing it gently.

"Pan's asleep," he said and saw Chichi's look of anger. He gulped and averted his eyes since he didn't like seeing that woman wear an angry face. Every visit he's had at the Son residence meant at some point Chichi would get angry about some rash decision Goku had made with regards to Gohan and he'd get an earful about delaying Gohan's education and turning him into a delinquent. Piccolo really didn't like that word and wanted to tell her that Gohan would still become a capable scholar.

"Ah, thank you," Gohan said and he pulled up an empty chair for Piccolo to sit in. He declined and instead leaned up against the wall near the front door.

"Should we talk about father's decision yesterday?" Goten asked and that got a small growl from Chichi.

"That idiot!" Chichi yelled, slamming the table with her fist. "What does he think he's doing leaving us with some kid he's never met before? 'I'm going to live with this kid and train him to get stronger!' Seriously?! My Goku has no business training strange kids, this coming season is crucial for the next harvest and he needs to be on the fields getting things ready for the crops to be planted!"

"We can get someone else to help plant the fields, mother," Gohan said and she glared at him.

"No one can do the job Goku can," she replied sharply.

"I can do it, I've seen father do it before and I'm sure it won't get in the way of my work," Gohan tried to explain but she hushed him when she raised her hand.

"Not happening, Gohan. You're a successful scholar now and you have too many important seminars to teach and conferences to attend to give it up for farm work. Same goes for you too, Goten. Your studies are too important to ignore!"

Piccolo felt nervous hearing Chichi's voice grow louder. He worried that if this escalated even further it would wake up Pan. He figured he could at least pitch in the work for now until Goku comes back and went to speak up.

"I can-"

"And what kind of example is he setting for Pan? Running off at the first sight of a fight or some training exercise? Always running away to train for something! We don't have any threats anymore! Majin Buu's gone, Beerus isn't going to destroy the planet, that Tournament of Power or whatever is over and done with, so we don't have to keep going through this anymore. I want you three to go to wherever Goku went first thing in the morning and bring him back here!" She said, staring at Gohan, Goten, and Piccolo, who blushed and looked away. He really didn't want to be in this house anymore and was ready to leave. He sighed and relented, looking back at Chichi.

"I can carry on Son's work in his absence if it's not too much of a hassle. It'll help me keep an eye on Pan while I'm at it," Piccolo said and both Gohan and Goten looked relieved, but Chichi shook her head.

"I'm not bringing you into this, Piccolo. This is Goku's work and he has no business abandoning it for selfish reasons."

"But Piccolo is just as good at the farm work as Father is," Gohan said. Videl thought she heard a commotion from the other room where Pan was sleeping and went over to check on it. Chichi slammed her hands on the table, standing up.

"Get my Goku back NOW!" she screamed and everyone else sighed, hanging their heads low. Gohan nodded.

"Yes, mother."

"Can we wait until morning, though?" Goten asked and Chichi slumped back down on her chair. Her appetite came back and she began to eat, taking care not to stuff too much into her mouth.

"I don't care, just bring him back here before dinner tomorrow night" she said in between mouthfuls and the three men looked at each other. Videl came back out of the room with Pan, who looked a bit groggy.

"Why is Grandma being so loud?" Pan asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Grandma's upset your grandpa didn't want to stay," Videl said and ushered her back into the bedroom.

"But Grandpa did promise he'd come visit us. So it's okay, isn't it?" Pan asked. Chichi sighed and gave her granddaughter a sad look. She knew Pan couldn't understand the situation she was in and wished that she would be more upset about not seeing her grandfather around.

"You father, uncle Goten, and uncle Piccolo are going to bring your grandpa back tomorrow, so you'll be able to see him then," Videl said and escorted her back into the room.

"Can I come too?" she asked and Videl frowned.

"You have your school work and studies tomorrow, Pan." Videl said and they both disappeared into the bedroom.

After Pan had fallen back asleep, Videl came back and she went into the kitchen.

"I'll take care of the dishes, you take it easy, okay mother?" She said and Chichi breathed a sigh, smiling.

"Thank you. I'm so happy you've dedicated yourself to be a diligent housewife to my Gohan," Chichi said and Gohan blushed a bit.

"I've had a really good teacher," Videl said, bowing at Chichi and collected the empty dishes to bring them into the kitchen. Gohan and Goten stood up.

"We'll help out too," Gohan said and they quickly cleared the table. Chichi glanced at Piccolo and scoffed a bit. She still maintained those memories of when he wanted to conquer the world and avenge his father but seeing how gentle he was with Pan and how often they played together, it made her feel more at ease now.

"I'm glad you're there for Pan, she needs people to set a good example for her as she grows up," she said and Piccolo didn't say anything. He decided to exit the house and sit by a tree a few yards away. He sat down cross-legged and began his meditation exercises and mental training, then rested until the morning while everyone else inside were getting ready to settle in for the night. Since Gohan's house is next to Chichi's, they walked back home, Gohan carrying Pan in his arms as she continued sleeping.

When the morning sun peeked over the horizon, Gohan and Goten were already up, dressed in their gi. Gohan's gi was the same as Piccolo's, while Goten had his loose fitting workout clothes he'd often wear to train with his father. The three took to the air to fly over to Goku's location, which was to the southeast of Mount Paozu. The trip was brief considering their speed and they landed in the middle of an island village. Gohan pointed to a hut at the far end of a row of huts.

"Father's in that one, over there," he said and the three walked over to it. A plump dark-skinned woman exited the hut and saw the three walking over to her. She looked at them suspiciously.

"More people dropping in unannounced? What business do you three have?" She said coldly, staring a bit longer at Piccolo as she spoke. She wasn't sure about the tall, green-skinned man with the turban and mantle and saw that the other man with glasses on his face was wearing the same purple gi he was and gave him an equal cold look.

"She doesn't look very happy to see us, brother," Goten said and Gohan ignored it, smiling. He bowed at her.

"Hi, I'm Son Gohan. Son Goku is my father. We were told he came to this village the other day?"

The woman relaxed her gaze and pointed inside the hut.

"Yeah, that impolite oaf is sleeping in there. I caught him late last night eating my leftovers and gave him a good spanking for it," she said, and the three men's eyes widened a bit. A young boy walked out and stretched his arms, yawning. He saw the three and rubbed his eyes to get a better look, then smiled since he remembered their faces from the tournament on Papaya island.

"Oh, hello! You were with Goku, right?" the boy said.

"He's my father. I'm Gohan, and this is my younger brother, Goten. This is our friend, Piccolo."

"Pleased to meet all of you. My name's Uub," he said, bowing at the three.

"Go wash up and fetch our supplies for breakfast, baboo," the large woman said and Uub nodded, running back into the hut.

"What brings you here to our island, then? What business do you have with Goku?" the woman asked.

"Our mother asked us to bring him back home. He was supposed to be working on our farm to grow crops for the next harvest season and she's been very upset since he left."

"Is that so?" the woman asked. She glared at the inside of the hut and walked back in. Moments later, they could hear Goku cry out in pain from inside and the large woman came out, dragging Goku by the ear as he winced and cried out in pain. When she let him go, Goku held his left ear.

"Ow ow ow," he said, then looked to see his two sons and Piccolo standing there.

"Huh? What're you guys doing here?" he asked.

"Mother wants you to come home. She won't take no for an answer." Gohan said.

"You never said anything about being a farmer," the large woman said.

"I'm sorry, Pinappa!" Goku said, putting his hands together, bowing at her.

"Not only are your manners disgusting, you disregard the work of your home? If I were in that woman's shoes, I'd march down here and drag your butt back home myself!"

"Please, I really want to train Uub to get him stronger and I want to do my part to help out in the village! My granddaughter is also the granddaughter of the world champion, Hercule, and I can ask him if he can give your village enough money to buy all the food you need so you won't have to go hungry anymore! Please, I'll do everything I can to help, just let me train Uub!"

"I don't care if you're friends with the Monarch!" Palma yelled. "You disrespected the integrity of your family by leaving them for selfish reasons!"

"It's okay, miss Pinappa," Gohan said, putting a hand on his father's shoulder. "Father's a really good man, he's saved the world many times and you can see the resolve on his face to train your son to one day save the world as well, right?" Gohan said as he looked to Goten and Piccolo. Goten nodded but Piccolo remained neutral, yet his face did allude to Gohan's honesty.

"I suppose if his wife is okay with it, he could stay in the village to train my baboo, but if she refuses, I don't want to see him step one foot on this island or he'll get another whooping," Palma stated and Goku shook his head, grabbing his rear. He stood up and walked over to the three men.

"Oh man, I'm really blowing it this time. Uub's mama and Chichi are both really angry at me. But I really want Uub to get stronger because he still has the same power as-"

"Are you sure you want to reveal that bit of information to the boy's mother?" Piccolo interjected before Goku finished his sentence. Goku sighed, but then an idea came to him.

"Hey Pinappa, let me take you and Uub to meet Chichi, I'm sure we can come to an agreement on something!" Goku said, smiling and she raised an eyebrow.

"But don't you need a plane or something to fly off the island? At least take a boat to the next island so we can head to the airport," Palma said.

"It'll be fine, Goku can take you all back to his home without the need of a plane. I'm going back to the lookout. I'll come back to watch Pan this weekend."

"Sure thing. Bye for now!" Gohan called out and Piccolo took to the air, channeling his energy to give himself a burst of speed and he was out of sight within seconds. Pinappa shielded her face from the winds that blew from the burst of energy and couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Piccolo fly away.

"That large green man can fly?" She asked, surprised.

"We all can, actually," Gohan said and both he and Goten floated up a few feet, then landed back down on the ground.

"Can my baboo do that too?" she asked. She was starting to become intrigued by this. People with the ability to fly without the need for an aircraft.

"That's one of the first things I'd like to teach him, actually," Goku said, but put a hand to his chin. "Well, I guess he'd have to learn to control his energy and tap into it at will first."

"Is it okay to carry all of us on your backs, or will you have to hold our hands while we're, um, flying up there?" Palma asked and Goku blinked, confused.

"Oh, no need for that, I can use instantaneous movement to take us back to my house immediately!" He said, smiling.

"Instantaneous movement?" Palma said, mouth open. She was hearing these things for the first time and she didn't know what to make of all this. She knew her son was blessed with a great gift, but could he also learn all these new things? Is he even capable of that? She started to wonder a bit more about these new developments and shifted her gaze back to the hut.

"Uub! Go wake up Coco and Natta!" She yelled. A couple minutes later, her two younger twin boys came out of the hut, rubbing their eyes.

"I want you two to help papa gather provisions at the store today. Your brother and I have some urgent business to take care of. Uub!" She called out and Uub quickly came out of the hut to join her.

"Alright, if you can instantly move us, then please do so," she said, crossing her arms. Uub looked up at Goku. He saw that Piccolo wasn't around.

"Where'd that big green guy go?" Uub asked.

"Piccolo had to go back to his home up on Kami's lookout," Gohan told him and Pinappa's mouth almost dropped.

"That man is friends with Kami?! Why didn't you say something! I wanted to give him my thanks for blessing my family!" Palma said and Gohan laughed a bit.

"I'll be sure to let him know when I see him again," he said and he placed a hand on Goku's shoulder.

"Everyone hold hands," Goku said and put two fingers to his forehead. Goten placed a hand on Goku's other shoulder while he, Pinappa, Uub, and Gohan were all holding each other's hands. Seconds later, they all teleported off the island and this shocked the village chief as he was walking up to greet the new people.

"Did I just see ghosts?" He said, blinking.

When the group reappeared, they were standing outside of Goku's house and Chichi burst out from inside, almost hitting Goku in the face with the door.

"H-hi Chichi," Goku said, waving his hand weakly.

"Goku! How many times are you going to do this to me?!" She screamed and stopped herself from giving Goku an earful when she saw the two new guests he brought back with him. When she spotted the apron around Palma's waist, she had a glowing look on her face and she rushed to greet her. Palma on the other hand was a little shocked by how quickly she moved from one location to the next.

"Ah, I should've mentioned that you might feel dizzy the first time," Goku said, putting a hand behind his head.

"I can always tell another housewife when I see her. I'm Chichi, Goku's wife! Pleased to meet you!" She said, bowing at her. Palma cleared her throat and straightened her clothes. She looked intently at Chichi's face and smiled, nodding.

"You have a strong face, that's good. But your husband still needs lessons in proper manners whenever he visits a stranger's house," Palma said, glaring at Goku.

"My Goku takes some getting used to, miss-?"

"Pinappa. This is my son, Uub," she said, placing her hands on her son's shoulders. Uub bowed at Chichi.

"Pleased to meet you, miss," he said.

"Won't you come inside? Breakfast is almost ready," Chichi said, escorting everyone inside.

As soon as Palma walked in, her jaw dropped. Such a clean house! It looked so organized and beautiful that she couldn't believe this big oaf would live in here without causing such a mess. She almost envied Chichi for keeping this place spotless.

"Your hut is so beautiful, Chichi!" Palma cried out, a huge smile on her face.

"Hut?" Chichi muttered but ignored it. She went to the kitchen and Goku pulled out a chair for Pinappa to sit down and she looked at the chair, confused.

"Would you like to sit down?" Goku asked.

"Uub can sit down. Oh my, what's that lovely fragrance?" Palma asked, smelling the air. Goku sniffed the air and licked his lips.

"Chichi's best breakfast recipe, she always makes those for me first thing in the morning before I go work on the farm," Goku said and Palma entered the kitchen. She excused herself in and Goku, Gohan, Goten, and Uub could all hear the two women chatting away and they eventually began exchanging recipes. It was amazing how much in common the two women shared as he heard them talk that he was hoping they'd all have forgotten why they were angry at him in the first place.

When breakfast time came, Goku shoveled down mouthful after mouthful of food in his mouth. He hadn't eaten a large amount since the morning of the Tournament and although he enjoyed Pinappa's stew, he still felt hungry later that night. He regretted eating into their stores and apologized profusely but complimented her cooking nonetheless. After they all had their fill, Chichi and Pinappa stood before the four with their arms crossed.

"We've talked it over and we reached an agreement. Goku will be allowed to train Uub, but in return he must help Goku with the farm work." Chichi said and Goku smiled.

"Really?!" Goku cried out.

"I think working on a farm to grow crops is an important job and my baboo can build his muscles while helping you out. Provided that he is back at the village to help with house chores. So for three days he will be with you, then three days he will be back home. The seventh day can alternate between staying with you here or staying home. We'll figure out what sort of training you want to do with Uub afterwards. Understood?"

"Really? Really really?" Goku said, excited and Chichi sighed, touching her temple with her hand.

"Yes Goku, but don't ever leave without discussing it with me first, got it?"

"Yahoo! Thank you!" Goku cried out, raising his fists in the air.

 _And so it was that Goku began his training with Uub. Uub helped Goku plow fields and plant crops, using some of the same training Goku did back when he was a kid training with his friend Krillin under the watch of master Roshi. He even gave Uub some weighted clothing to help build his muscles as he worked the fields._

 _For the next few years, Goku gradually began to teach Uub how to control his energy, how to fly in the air, and sparred with each other during the off-season when the harvest was over. Each year for the next six years Uub would mix in strength building during the season and then work on fighting techniques with Goku afterwards._

 _Pan continued to build up her skills at fighting while working on her studies. She was glad to see Goku again and was even happier that he was staying around this time to see her more often. She even began to become good friends with Uub, helping him with some training and sparing of their own while Goku was busy with the farm work. Pan got more used to her tomboyish looks that she became comfortable wearing boys' clothing: short-legged jeans that cut off at her shins, a red t-shirt, and an orange bandana she wore covering the top of her head. Uub eventually began to wear the same blue gi that Goku was wearing and even had the turtle emblem engraved on it out of respect for Goku's teacher._

 _Bulla gradually mixed in her work in Bulma's lab while taking part in some of her father's training and would watch him and Trunks spar and train side by side. Despite Bulma's objections, Bulla was still happy that she could spend equal time with both her mother and father. She enjoyed working on new technology and even started building her own equipment to help her brother train. She even cracked a complex formula to help increase the strength of the barrier generators so they can resist stronger impact from large bursts of energy. She was already smart enough to breeze through her education that by the age of 10 she was studying at a university level, focusing on engineering and physics with an emphasis on robotics, slightly differentiating herself from her mother. But she would also devote her time to grow stronger by training with Trunks while Vegeta was busy with other endeavors, whether it was to help the Galactic Patrol (he was assigned to the reserves on an on-call basis if they needed the extra muscle to help Jaco tackle a criminal), or it was to get in some sparing and training with Whis and Beerus on their world to continue training to completely master his divine energy._

 _Beerus had spent time planning with the Supreme Kai Shin to help boost the mortal rating so they don't anger the two Zenos anymore. He realized that for this to be more effective, he had Shin bring him and the Old Kai to new Namek so they can make a wish with their Dragonballs. They asked Porunga to de-fuse the Old Kai and he separated into his younger self and the old witch that put on his potara by accident. Beerus wasted no time and destroyed the old witch before she could even protest, and the newly separated ancestor Kai made a with (despite his objection to using the Dragonballs initially) to have the witch's ability to unlock a person's potential should it be asked of him. Beerus then ordered the renewed young kai to fuse with Shin so they can be a more competent Supreme Kai and the two obliged with a little discomfort, the ancestor lamenting that he had to re-fuse so soon after he had been separated. They then fused into Shinkai, a Kai slightly taller than Shin with a shorter white mohawk on his head. Their face was mostly still like Shin's, but his cheekbones were slightly elevated and his eyes had the ageless look of eons of accumulated knowledge. Beerus eyed the new fusion and shrugged, deciding it was satisfactory enough to work with. Shin's memories and the ancestor kai's memories had combined and Shinkai felt more confident about his work and about his business relationship with Beerus._

 _Shinkai went to work creating new planets that occupied the areas that once housed Planet Plant, Planet Vegeta, and Planet Namek respectively and their civilizations would eventually grow over generations to prosper and thrive. The Grand Minister took notice of this new development and was pleased to see that the mortal rating for Universe 7 was gradually making its way up._

 _This was the same with the other seven universes, with the exception of the Ninth Universe. Supreme Kai Roh was still giving the Grand Minister a measure of difficulty as he observed the universe and wondered if he truly benefited from his second chance. Ultimately, he would eventually have to settle on a new Supreme Kai and Destroyer for that universe, otherwise the Zenos would simply erase the universe entirely and leave it at eleven for the foreseeable future._

 _Six years came and went and we now enter a new chapter for Goku and all the Earthlings._

 _Age 790._

 _This was the year a new World Martial Arts Tournament would take place on Papaya Island, and new discussions about tea recipes would take place between the first and tenth universes. Supreme Kai Anat and Iwen the Destroyer eagerly awaited to exchange new pleasantries with Supreme Kai Gowasu and hoped that he would eventually begin training his new successor._

 _A new adventure awaits. Onward Uub, onward Pan, and onward Bulla, to a bright new future!_


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – "A new World Tournament approaches! A new generation of fighters begin to prepare."**

 **Age 790…**

Son Family Farms enjoyed a great deal of success over the last 5 years. Ever since Son Goku put a lot of his work on the farm (albeit reluctantly), their business expanded. They won the prestigious "Farm of the Year" award for the east district for three years running, "Produce of the Year" for two years, one for "Hardest Worker" to Goku, and "Salesperson of the Year" to Chichi with her aggressive selling tactics to promote their crops. Chichi displayed them all in her house with pride as Goku continued his work on the crops while she would brag about them to visitors she'd invite over.

Chichi was able to use the extra money earned from their sales to expand and upgrade her kitchen, adding more storage space in the pantry and even adding a second stove while replacing the first one she had been using for years since they married. Her love for cooking and taking care of the house motivated her to invent new and creative recipes in the hopes that Goku would never want to leave the house anymore.

She was able to now invest more free time to complete a project she had been working on, her first cookbook: "A 1001 recipes to keep your loved ones at home". She had made so many recipes and written so many motivational notes that she compiled them all together into a book and it quickly became a bestseller worldwide, translated in multiple languages.

Not only was the family farm successful, her popularity as a cook and an author career took off as well. She enjoyed the revenue from her book sales, but she loved receiving fan mail even more, letters from housewives indebted to her for her advice on how to keep a happy household and a happy family. Even Bulma had discreetly made a purchase with the hopes that Vegeta at least would be happy but that was still a work in progress, leaving the cooking to the kitchen staff.

She invested a sizeable portion of the revenue into Pan's and Goten's education. She wanted to be sure both her son and granddaughter went to the best school so they would be successful in the real world.

Goten, however, wanted to pursue his dream of following in Number 17's career as a wildlife preserve ranger. He convinced the android to take him on as an apprentice and when Goten became a full-fledged ranger, he was given his own island wildlife reserve to look after, with a decent salary that Chichi was happy to see. It wasn't something she had expected but knowing that Goten had become a salary man meant a great deal to her. Gohan had become a scholar with a family of his own, Goten became a wildlife ranger, and her husband became a successful farmer. All was going well in the Son family from her perspective.

Goku on the other hand balanced farm work and training Uub, the ten year old boy he had discovered at the World Martial Arts Tournament. Goku was implicit on training him since he knew that he was the reincarnation of the evil Majin Buu that had been reawakened and terrorized not only the earth but the whole universe.

This was Goku's first opportunity in decades to train and teach someone himself. He had wanted to do that with his son, Gohan; but all those times Chichi scolded him and put Gohan through the grinder with homework and studies made that virtually impossible.

When all was said and done and peace had returned to earth, the time had come. He wanted to live at Uub's village and train him to become stronger. Helping Uub build up his strength and control his energy meant that soon he'd have his re-match with the reincarnated Buu.

Chichi and Pinappa, Uub's mother, were quite well against this idea unless they could incorporate it somehow into Goku's work on the farm. At least he was happy to hear that news.

He remembered when he was a young boy training for his first World Tournament with his friend, Krillin. They wore a weighted turtle shell on their backs while they plowed fields, delivered milk, and jogged for miles every day for months, building their muscles and getting stronger.

He knew he had to do something similar when it came to Uub's strength training that he made Uub wear weighted clothing, custom-made by his friend, Piccolo. Uub had to learn how to move around in the heavy clothing at first, and then when his mobility began to improve, he took over plowing the fields with Goku to help make the job go faster.

It took about a month for Uub to get the hang of controlling his energy, even learning how to fly the following day. Goku would send Uub to retrieve their lunch while he worked on the fields, using everyday skills to help make Uub stronger physically.

The months went by as Uub worked hard: Plowing fields, planting crops, watering them, and digging them up when they were done. He even began to help at other farms when things quieted down at Goku's farm, always finding labor jobs to build up his strength.

Goku was napping in his tractor, taking a break from his work. His nap breaks were peaceful and quiet and he'd get in at least an hour's worth of sleep before he continued and finished. Dressed in his farmer's garb, he was dreaming about a new kind of food he'd never try before and hoped Chichi would cook it for him.

"Could you do something with that bark for me, Chichi?" Goku muttered in his sleep. Moments later a large energy ball barreled down from the sky and crashed into the ground. The large explosion sent rubble everywhere and rocked Goku and his tractor as well, sending both of them flying.

Startled awake, Goku cried out in a panic. When the dust had settled, he found himself hanging over a precipice, holding the tractor with his other hand to keep it from falling.

Uub flew down from the sky and landed on the ground. He took one look at the crater the energy ball had formed and his face went pale. He was now sixteen years of age and his gi matched that of Goku's when he first met him, light blue with a white belt. He never wore footwear, finding it awkward as he walked unless they were part of the weighted clothing Goku made him wear for labor work.

He picked up on Goku's energy signature and pinpointed it to the precipice ahead. He gasped when saw Goku's hand holding onto the edge.

"Oh crap!" he said as he ran to peer over the ledge. When he saw Goku holding the tractor aloft with his hand, Uub extended his own hand to help Goku back up onto solid ground, laying the tractor down with a huge thud that coughed up dust clouds underneath.

"Master, I'm so sorry!" Uub said as Goku got his bearings together. He dusted himself off and inspected the tractor, but his face went pale a bit when he saw the crater behind it. He and Uub looked at each other and Goku sighed a bit, putting a hand on the teen's head.

"Uub, you gotta pick your training area better," Goku said and Uub hung his head. Two other figures appeared in view and landed in front of him. They were Pan, Goku's granddaughter, and Bulla, Bulma and Vegeta's daughter, both aged ten. Pan saw the crater and put a hand to her face, covering her eyes.

"Oh no, I ruined grandpa's farm!" She cried out and Bulla glanced over as well, holding back a bit of laughter. She nudged Pan and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Nice aiming, Pan. Alright Uub, one more time!" Bulla said, assuming a fighting stance. She waited for Uub to make a move but neither of them were looking at her now, surveying the crater with a dejected look. Pan sat down at the edge of the crater and leaned her head down on her hands.

"Pan, don't worry about the crater, we have to finish our sparring session. I can send someone to fix it up later," Bulla said and she leaned forward a bit to gain Uub's attention. He shook his head.

"Sorry, I got distracted a bit. We should move to a new location before we start again," he said and took to the air. Bulla smirked and extended her hand out to Pan.

"Don't be such a sourpuss, let's get back into it," she told her and Pan sighed.

"Go on ahead, it's okay," Goku said, leaning against the tractor.

"Are you sure, grandpa?" Pan couldn't alleviate her feeling of guilt for what she had done and Goku waved it off, chuckling.

"These things happen more often than you realize. Go and continue your training," he said and Pan got a look from Bulla that goaded her into getting back into it and Bulla led her off the ground.

Uub slowed down to allow the girls to catch up to him and Bulla was rapidly making her way, powering up a bit to re-engage him in their spar.

He quickly blocked her punches that she threw at rapid speed and the two disappeared, reappearing back in the air. They did this several more times, Bulla picking up speed to try and catch Uub off-guard but he was ready for her. Goku looked up at them as their shapes grew smaller and smiled.

The two of them were well out of sight at this point, ignoring what had happened earlier and Bulla sensed that Pan caught up to them finally. "About time, Pan," she whispered.

When Pan flew into view, she stopped beside Bulla. Uub kept his fighting stance and waited for the girls to make the first move.

He had been busy with his solo training after learning all he could from Goku for now. His training involved sparring with Pan at first and the two grew used to their training routine and sparring sessions. They even began to grow close as friends and shared stories about Goku and what kind of person he was like before Uub had met him. Pan loved her grandfather yet showed a bit more fondness for Piccolo since the latter had visited her more often to look after her. Their household was like a second home for Piccolo outside of Kami's lookout and as Pan grew older, she began to adapt to the Namekian's fighting style. She had so many good mentors to look up to in terms of her upbringing but had to be constantly reminded by not only her mother, Videl, but by Chichi that schoolwork and housework were just as important.

As Bulla grew into her childhood, she too developed an interest in the martial arts and was drawn as much to Vegeta's training as she was to Bulma's work in the laboratory. It didn't take Bulla as long as Pan did to grow stronger due to her half-Saiyan nature, and eventually had been able to tap into her own Super Saiyan transformation at the age of seven. But because this training was meant to boost her natural skills and strengths, her transformation was only meant for more serious fights, something Vegeta had to remind her often while she was training with him. He wasn't as surprised about Bulla being able to transform as he was with Trunks.

She was a gifted fighter with a higher intellect than kids her age, able to pick up on her father's techniques after only seeing them once. Her strength training allowed her to help Bulma with the heavy handiwork by holding up large equipment as Bulma worked underneath, no longer needing any harnesses or platforms to hold up large machines.

Bulla was even able to learn how to make gadgets of her own, building small training drones to help her with her own training while Vegeta and Trunks sparred together in their more intense workout in the gravity room. She often asked to use the gravity room but Vegeta kept telling her she wasn't ready yet to handle gravity training. _There will come a time when you'll be ready for my level of training_ , he'd tell her. She'd get annoyed but understood her father well enough not to make him upset. In the meantime, she did build weighted wrist bands and ankle bands for her strength conditioning before she could access the gravity room's machine. The only times she had been in the gravity room was to fix it with her mother and she studied the equipment inside and out to know how it worked so that when Vegeta allowed her to use it, she knew exactly what to do. It was one of many advantages of having the parents she had: not only were they wealthy, but their combination of technological prowess and knowledge of the martial arts gave Bulla a fortunate balance.

Rather than their usual playdates that Pan would have with Bulla at Capsule Corporation, their playdates began to be more focused on training and sparring.

Pan invited Bulla to help Uub with his workouts, figuring that two-on-one sessions could help them figure out how to fight off more than one opponent. They each took turns playing the defensive role and fended off a two-on-one strategy, and each one had a unique approach to it. Pan was slightly more reckless in her attacks than Bulla was and would often cause damage to property and the environment they were sparring in. Pan's excuse was that she wanted to become stronger and bring their training to the next level but Bulla kept reminding her that there needed to be a measured restraint so they don't accidentally hurt anyone.

Since Uub had a firm grasp of his energy control, he knew it would take some work for the girls to be able to do that themselves since they were still growing up. Being children meant they were more impulsive in their training and would often make mistakes and Uub would have the upper hand.

He saw that very opening when Bulla flew to his right. He shifted out of her way at high speed and kneed her in the side. Pan went in for a combo attack with her fists, but Uub took Bulla's arm and threw her into Pan. Pan was knocked for a loop and Uub hovered above them, sending both crashing into the ground with a heel kick. He landed near the girls as they were slow to get back to their feet and Bulla saw that her t-shirt had been torn open. She examined her bicycle shorts was glad they were still intact. The last thing she needed was for these two to see part of her underwear. She sighed at the holes in her shirt.

"Mom's going to be so mad when she sees this," Bulla said and Pan glanced at her, annoyed.

"Seriously? You get knocked down and all you can think about is how bad your clothes look? At least you can afford to replace them," Pan and Bulla stared at each other.

"Please don't argue," Uub said and he stepped between. He could see the look on Pan's face as she adjusted her orange bandana on her head. Her blue shin-length jeans were dusty and torn in a few places while her red shirt that looked almost two sizes too small had seen better days, even though they were still able to cover her adequately. Uub noticed that the girls were still staring at each other, Bulla offended by Pan's statement and Pan's face growing more angered.

"Hey, let's focus back on the training," Uub said.

"Zip it, mohawk," Bulla said, not looking at him. She had her hands on her hips now. Uub sighed, putting a hand to his forehead.

"I'm not the one who cries home to mommy every time I scrape my knee or my toys break," Bulla said and Pan gritted her teeth.

"I'm not a crybaby!" Pan cried out and her energy began to swell, a white aura surrounding her. The ground around the two began to shake as several small rocks began to float in the air. Bulla smirked and she began to power up as well. She didn't care how much energy she was building up as her Super Saiyan aura began to appear, her hair standing up on end in golden spikes, her blue-green eyes staring at Pan.

"Why don't we finally put it to the test and see who'll go home crying first, then? First one to get knocked out gets first pick of the other's wardrobe," Bulla said and Pan sniffed.

"Fine. But if I knock you down first, you're taking me clothes shopping tomorrow with your own money," Pan said and took to the air. Uub sighed as kept his distance and the two girls faced each other in the air. _Every time with those two._

Bulla and Pan immediately flew towards each other and their fists clashed together, shaking the area around them with the shockwave. Uub crossed his arms and observed the fight as it went on and saw that Bulla's power was larger than Pan's in her Super Saiyan form.

Their scuffle was brief however, as Bulla caught Pan with a punch to the face that sent her flying back. Uub noticed that she was dangerously close to hitting a rock formation that he put two fingers to his head and teleported behind Pan to catch her. One of Goku's techniques that Uub picked up on quickly was instantaneous movement and Goku was surprised at how quickly Uub was learning his skills and fighting techniques. But each time Goku had this overwhelming look of happiness on his face Uub often wondered why he felt that way.

"Are you ok?" He asked Pan as he was holding her. Pan was still feeling angry and ignored what he said, instead blasting off back towards Bulla at high speed. Uub looked at her with some concern on his face that she was starting to take this a bit too seriously.

When Pan got back into view, Bulla readied herself for another attack but didn't anticipate that Pan was cupping her hands to her side and gathering energy in a blue sphere that was growing bigger.

"Hey Pan, I, um, I think we should probably postpone this," Bulla said, knowing that she wasn't quite ready for large energy attacks. She saw Pan use that once before and it made her feel uneasy as she saw her fire that energy beam at Uub, at his request.

"KA…ME…HA…ME…" Pan yelled out as she was ready to fire the Kamehameha wave at Bulla.

"Pan, DON'T!" Uub yelled but she didn't hear him as she unleashed the blue energy wave at Bulla. Uub put two fingers to his forehead to teleport in front of the beam to get Bulla out of the way but he was surprised to see Goku appear in front and with the back of his hand he knocked the blue energy wave far into the heavens and out of the earth's atmosphere. When he was sure it was out of sight and out of harms way, he glanced back down at Pan, breathing a sigh. Pan looked away and took off.

"Pan!" Bulla cried out but Goku put his arm out in front of her. Uub joined up with the two.

"I'm sorry Master, I tried to talk them out of it, but," Uub started but Goku's grin cut him off.

"Don't worry about it, Uub. That's the nature of training, things are bound to escalate at some point."

Bulla powered back down and let her blue hair fall gently back onto her shoulders. It was astonishing to Goku how much Bulla looked like her mother that Goku remembered the first time he had met Bulma when he was a boy. He could see both the look of Bulla's mother with the intensity of her father, a dangerous combination if there ever was one.

Bulla's wristwatch began to beep and she pressed a button.

"Bulla, it's time to come home," came Vegeta's voice at the other end. Bulla often wondered if his voice sounded angry or not.

"Hi Vegeta!" Goku yelled at the wristwatch but there was no response. He took Bulla's wrist and looked over the watch.

"Did your watch break?" Goku asked.

"Her communicator's not broken, Kakarrot," Vegeta said on the other end. Goku chuckled a bit and Bulla pulled her wrist away from him, annoyed.

"I'm on my way back now, papa. Bulla, out," she said and pushed a button to shut off the communicator. She flew to Uub and extended her hand upward.

"Thanks for the training today, Uub," she said, smiling, and Uub took her hand, nodding.

"Same time tomorrow?" he asked and her eyes lit up.

"Uh, actually, I need a day to rest, sorry," she said quickly and took to the air in a burst of speed. Uub and Goku looked at each other.

"Bulla and Pan are really good fighters, Master," he said, smiling.

"Yeah, I can feel their energy as they were fighting you," Goku said and Uub looked up at him.

"You saw us fighting?"

"I can visualize it in my head. The way your energies moved around gave me a clear picture on the way you three were fighting," Goku said and Uub nodded.

"I haven't got the hang of that yet, though," Uub said.

"With enough experience you will. But for now, you should focus your efforts on the World Martial Arts Tournament in the next six months," Goku said and Uub's face lit up.

"Really? Like the one where we first met?" he asked and Goku smiled.

"Yep, the very same."

"Are you going to participate, Master?" Uub asked and Goku chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, about that. I think Vegeta would agree with me that these tournaments wouldn't be fair if we took part in it. I want you and Pan to participate because I know there'll at least be a couple strong fighters that can test you, probably Trunks or Buu."

"I'll do my best and win that tournament, Master," Uub said and Goku shook his head.

"Don't think about winning, only think about your skill and the effort you put into your training. If you think too much about winning, you'll lose focus and make mistakes."

They had landed on the ground again as they were talking and Uub turned around to bow, covering one fist with his open palm.

"Yes, master!" He cried out.

"Since it's getting late, why don't we get back home? I bet Chichi's got dinner starting up by now!" Goku said, putting an arm around Uub.

"Yeah!"

"Hey, one more time, like before," Goku said and raised his fist in the air. Uub remembered that gesture as well and raised a fist in the air as well. They both cried out: "OHHHHH!" and shared a laugh before they flew off back to the Son residence.

Dinner went off without a hitch. Both Goku and Uub had built up an appetite of their own accord and were both enjoying Chichi's cooking. After they had finished, Uub looked around the house.

"Has Pan stopped by?" he asked.

"Pan? No, I haven't seen her. She might have gone to her home instead," Chichi replied. She cleared the table and brought the dishes into the kitchen as Goku closed his eyes.

"She's close to her home but she's not there. I can feel a swell of energy building up though. I've been feeling that on and off since we started eating."

"What could that mean, master?" Uub asked and Goku frowned.

"I don't know."

"I'll go talk to her," Uub said and Goku nodded. As Uub stood up and walked away, Goku put a hand up. "Wait."

Uub glanced at him. "Yes, master?"

"If you need me to help you with your training for the Tournament, I'll be there," Goku said and Chichi walked back in, holding a dish towel.

"Goku, don't start shirking your field work for training. Let Uub do this on his own. If he wins the prize money, he can put that towards his village so your brother-in-law doesn't have to."

Chichi didn't like the idea of always going to Hercule to help Uub's village buy the food they need and save up so they wouldn't ever be poor again. The World Champion obliged generously to help the Son family's cause. Chichi obviously didn't mind the charitable donations now and then but felt that some of the money Uub earned with Goku on the farm can set a good example for Uub's family back home that his hard work was paying off.

"I will, master, thank you," Uub said and he left the house. He thought of teleporting directly to Pan, but he didn't want to scare her. She could sense his energy so indicating that he was on his way to meet her would be a better approach than surprising her out of the blue.

He flew a short distance to a clearing about a couple miles away from her house and he landed along the outskirts. He could see Pan clearly in an intense focus, channeling her energy. She still had an angered expression as she yelled out, powering up. Her voice increased in volume and she let out a scream before her energy left her and she collapsed on her hands and knees. She breathed hard as Uub slowly approached her and she looked up at him, tears streaming down on her face. She sat down on the ground and Uub sat down in front of her.

"Hi Pan," Uub said, unsure how to start. He scratched the back of his head and looked around, trying to think of the best way to talk to her but she wiped her face and crossed her arms.

"Hey," she said. She occasionally had to wipe a stray trickle that was coming down her left cheek and she brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs.

"Bulla's right, I'm nothing but a crybaby." she said.

"I'm quite sure that's not true, Pan. I've cried a lot when I was younger. Every scolding I got from mother I went to bed crying."

Pan looked up at him.

"Every time?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, maybe not every time. Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit," Uub said, chuckling a bit. The two shared a quiet moment and they wanted to speak but Uub ended up breaking the silence.

"I think you should apologize to Bulla. That was pretty mean spirited what you said earlier."

"How is it 'mean spirited'? Because she has more money? Because her dad's stronger than my dad? Because she can become a stupid Super Saiyan and I can't?!"

"Pan," Uub said but she cut him off as she stood up quickly.

"My grandfather is the second richest man in the world other than the Capsule Corps family yet my mom wants nothing to do with his wealth at all! Why can't I be spoiled like Bulla? Do I not deserve that?" Her words cut into Uub and he frowned, standing up to face her.

"I understand you feel envious of Bulla because of her wealth but I know for a fact that there are things more valuable than just having a lot of money."

Pan sighed. "I know, I know. I'm just being angry for a stupid reason right now. I say things I don't really mean out of spite."

"So what's really bothering you?" Uub asked, taking a couple steps closer to Pan.

"My father's half-Saiyan, like Bulla and Trunks, and I know I must be part-Saiyan myself, which would explain how strong I am. But it must feel exhilarating to have that power under your control. That fire, that aura, the ability to feel as though nothing can take you down. That's what I see when I see Bulla and Trunks as Super Saiyans and I want that feeling as well."

Uub smiled. He remembered a few times training with Goku that he saw that transformation himself. It was a sign to Goku that he was getting better at his training and that he was pushing Goku to using more power to hold him off. He could see how intense that form was and how much energy it gave off and seeing that same effect on Bulla and how often she'd smile when she was in that form made him excited to fight, a quality he had grown accustomed to thanks to his master.

"So that's what you've been doing out here. You're trying to achieve it as well?" Uub said. Pan nodded.

"I'm not even close to the feeling, no matter how angry I get," her voice was teetering on desperation as she spoke and Uub shrugged his shoulders a bit.

"Maybe you're not getting the right push? Maybe something needs to happen to really get you angry," Uub stated and Pan shook a bit from that notion. How bad does it have to get to push her over the edge?

"Something, like my life being in danger? Or my mom and dad being in danger?" she asked and Uub shook his head.

"Your dad looks way too strong to be in danger, I know he can protect you guys." He paused for a moment but shook his head a few seconds later. "I can't think of anything else that would work. Why don't you ask Bulla?"

"Of course, why didn't I think of that in the first place?" Pan said, her face lighting up. That look she had on her face made Uub blush a bit and she glanced up and saw it herself. _He's blushing? He kind of looks cute when he does that._

Pan began to blush as well as they stared at each other for a few seconds before looking away and Uub cleared his throat.

"Um, I should head back home and let everyone know you're ok. Will you go apologize to Bulla? For me at least?" Uub requested and Pan smiled, brushing her hair back underneath her bandana.

"Yeah, I should tell her I'm sorry. Ugh, I really hope I didn't end our friendship," she said, her voice deep with worry. Uub chuckled.

"You and I both know it won't. Bulla's pretty tough," Uub said and Pan had a strange question pop up in her head that she felt compelled to ask.

"Uub? Do you…like Bulla?" she asked and Uub glanced down.

"She's a good fighter and she's strong. Why do you ask?"

"I mean, do you…you know…'like' Bulla?" Pan had to put more emphasis on her question but Uub raised an eyebrow, confused.

"I like all my friends, Pan. I trust them and I'm glad I can train with them, otherwise I wouldn't get as strong as I am today." Uub's statement wasn't something Pan had expected. She was picturing in her head that Uub would say yes and she saw him and Bulla hold hands and she began to blush, clenching her fists.

"Pan? Are you ok?" Uub asked and Pan snapped out of it.

"Huh? Oh, yes, yes. Sorry. So you like Bulla, but you also like me?"

Uub raised an eyebrow again. "I like the both of you, Pan. Are you okay? You're acting weird right now."

Pan glanced down at the ground, averting his gaze. Her hands clutched the belt hoops on her jeans and sighed. _He doesn't get it._

Pan's moment of curiosity was making the situation even more awkward the more she thought about it and the more she thought about seeing Uub and Bulla together, the more uncomfortable it was making her feel and she was having trouble understanding what this meant. She envied her friend's wealth but she refused to allow herself to be jealous of her looks that could draw in any cute boy she wanted. She pondered Uub's answer to her question and now she wasn't even sure whether it was simple respect for them as fighters or admiration for their friendship.

Uub was already several feet away in the air when she snapped out of it.

"Tomorrow I'm staring my training for the World Martial Arts Tournament, so I think you should start training even harder too if you want to participate! Bye!" he said and he took off and was out of sight in seconds.

"Wait, Tournament? Has that much time passed by already?" she glanced down at her hands. She clenched them, feeling her strength and she nodded. _Right, better let Bulla know about that too, then._

She decided to walk home. She was familiar with the path since she walked it almost every day since she was a toddler. When she came to the front door, she opened it gently only to see a vexed Videl staring down at her with arms crossed.  
"Well, it certainly took you long enough to get home from training," she said and Pan made a squeaking noise in her throat.

"I'm sorry, mom! I had a lot on my mind today. I'm going to take a bath and get some sleep," Pan said and Videl's face relaxed a bit.

"At least eat something first before it gets cold," Videl said as she waited for Pan to remove her shoes and set them aside. She escorted her to the dinner table and waited until Pan started eating before she retreated to the living room to read her book.

Pan realized she was hungrier than she thought she was and ate every bit of food that was on the table before she left to the bathroom. She knew that this was a part of the Saiyan physiology she inherited from her father, Gohan.

After her bath, she retreated to her room and wanted to sleep, but kept thinking about what happened earlier today and her conversation with Uub. Her mind had been pre-occupied with this since she started washing herself in the bathroom and she picked up a tablet that she used to talk to Bulla, one of the few gifts Bulla had given her to keep in touch since most of the time the only other way they can talk to each other was by phone and being able to see each other's faces on the screen was a welcome change for her.

She switched on the tablet and entered Bulla's private phone number. After a couple of rings, Bulla answered it. She was busy tinkering with a small device, working on it with a screwdriver.

"Hey Pan, what's up?" Bulla said and she finished tightening the screw. She closed the panel afterwards and set aside the device on her bed, focusing her attention on Pan's face in the screen.

"Hi Bulla. About earlier today, I'm sorry for what I said and how I acted," Pan said.

"Oh, that? I'm over it. Don't worry about offending me, I like it when you get me fired up. You should talk down to me more often, it makes me want to kick your butt even more," Bulla said, smiling. But she couldn't hold back and chuckled a bit. "I'm kidding, Pan."

"So you're not mad at me?" Pan asked.

"I'm madder at papa for not giving me enough time to train with you. I'm also mad that mom keeps bugging me to help her with some heavy lifting like my strength is just some random extra tool in her toolbox or something."

"Oh," Pan said. "But still, I'm sorry I get so jealous of your rich house and all those things you're able to do. I love your place, it's so much bigger than my house, like a thousand times bigger."

Bulla's face sunk into a frown and she sighed. Pan reacted with a bit of worry. Bulla could tell when Pan was in her state of worry by her willingness to put her face closer to the camera lens, as though she wanted to pop through the screen and get a closer look to see what's wrong with you.

"It's not as impressive as you'd like to think, Pan," Bulla said. She never sounded this down before, but she usually hid it behind a cheerful demeanor or an expression of anger.

"I don't get as many opportunities to socialize like you do. Mom always wanted to take me to her conferences to show me new gadgets, and Dad never approves of the friends I bring home with me from school because he doesn't see them as 'strong' enough. He only approved of you and Uub for obvious reasons so between all the business trips and training, you and Uub are the only friends I have. Pan?" She looked up to see Pan crying again and rolled her eyes.

"Knock it off, crybaby," Bulla said, grinning.

"But you're so lonely I want to hug you so badly!" Pan cried and Bulla blushed a bit, closing her eyes.

"It's fine, I get over it quickly. I hate it sometimes, of course, but when Mom talks to me of her adventures with your grandfather, I feel like she sometimes enjoys all those times she was alone on her travels. I know I get that from her because I like the alone time to work on my awesome inventions."

Pan wiped her face and looked at the screen, curious.

"What have you got this time?" Pan asked. Bulla pulled up a wristwatch she had been working on into full view and cycled through the screen for a moment until a holographic projection of the earth beamed out from the screen and 7 lights began to blink at random locations.

"This," she began, "is my Dragon Radar."

Pan cocked an eyebrow. "But you already have a Dragon Radar at your place."

"Yeah, but this one's so much better and more precise. I spent a lot of time on this one. I borrowed the old model radar and its blueprints and began making a model that'll give a more precise location and I incorporated all of it into my wrist watch. It's even got zoom in features on each Dragonball so we know where they are and we're not wasting as much time. If some bad guys get their grubby hands on mom's radar, we can use this one to track the locations of the other Dragonballs a lot faster than they can so we can get them before they do and kick their butts when we see them again. It even has a hidden tracking device for the other dragon radar so we'll know if someone's using it."

"Wow," Pan said, her mouth dropping. She shook her head as she remembered something.

"Wanna hear something cool?" she asked.

"What's cooler than my new dragon radar?" Bulla said. She switched off the radar and pushed a button near the bottom of the device she was tinkering with and it disappeared into its own capsule, which flipped in the air a few times before Bulla caught it in her right hand. She grinned happily and set it inside with another capsule in her own case, which had been decorated with a picture of herself and Pan, a picture she had her mom take of them and laminated onto the case with a label that said "friends and fighters forever" on the top portion in pink and blue glitter ink with a few star stickers around the label and the picture. She put the case to her face and closed her eyes, breathing a sigh of happiness that she had finished a project she worked the better part of a year on. She almost forgot that Pan still wanted to tell her about the "cool" thing so she set aside the case in the top drawer of her night stand.

"Sorry, I needed a moment," Bulla said, giggling.

"Bulla, there's going to be a Tournament coming up!" Pan cried out, excited.

Bulla raised her eyes. "What kind of tournament?"

"A Martial Arts Tournament! Like the one you saw me in all those years ago!" Pan said, sounding even more excited as each word left her mouth. Bulla grinned at the thought.

"I wanted to go last time, but mom said there weren't anyone we knew other than Hercule and Buu participating. It just ended up another victory for your grandfather as usual." Pan pouted a moment when she heard that but regained her composure.

"We can enter this time, since we're old enough and we know how to fight. We can meet in the finals and have an epic fight that'll knock everyone's socks off!" Pan said and Bulla raised her hands.

"Woah, hold on there. We have to be sure our parents are okay with this."

"I think mom and dad will be okay with me being in the tournament. I mean, they were last time," Pan said.

"My mom might not be so sure," Bulla said, crossing her arms. Bulma approved of Bulla's training in the martial arts far less than Vegeta did. She had displayed feats of strength at several occasions that became too big to ignore and Vegeta stated firmly that if Bulla doesn't learn how to properly control her power, it would be disastrous for the building and the whole city. In his mind he believed that the women in his family should harness strength and pride in their own right. He knew Bulma wasn't a fighter but admired her determination and strength of character greatly. He could see that this was passed on to Bulla and due to her Saiyan blood, her growing sense of battle was something that could be used effectively so that no one would dare mess with her, unless they wanted to mess with him first.

There was a knock on Bulla's door and she glanced over. "Who is it?"

"It's me, can I come in?" Bulma's voice came through the door.

"Yeah, sure."

The door opened and Bulma stepped in. She was still in her lab coat and outer wear, most likely burning the midnight oil on a project and she sat down on Bulla's bed. She saw the tablet and waved, smiling.

"Hi Pan! Did you two have fun today?" Bulma asked.

"Yeah, we had a great time," Pan replied politely.

"Well, since you're here too, I heard in the news today about the World Martial Arts Tournament coming up and I figured you'd be taking part?"

"Mm, I'm looking forward to it," Pan said, smiling with her eyes closed. Bulma turned to Bulla and grabbed her hands.

"I-I think you should take part in this as well," she said nervously. She clearly wasn't comfortable with this when she heard the news. Vegeta felt thrilled (even though he never showed it), and the two had a lengthy discussion about registering Bulla. Vegeta said he'd be sure her training would make her even stronger and handle the other participants.

She had scheduled so many upcoming events to display technological advances in various fields, even one hosted by Gohan in the late summer about the development of energy manipulation and how it can be handled through various methods.

Bulla's face lightened up. Pan's did as well, even though Bulla didn't notice it.

"Mom? Are you sure? You never liked me fighting-"

"Bulla, I want you to fight and win. Our family is the strongest in the universe and I want both my children to represent that in the Tournament. Besides, I'll need your help to fix up the shield generator for the island so the lot of you don't wreck the place."

Bulla rushed to give her mom a huge hug, smiling.

"Thank you so much, mama!" she said and Bulma chuckled nervously, patting her daughter on the head.

"Yeah, no worries," she said. She then sighed, which meant only one of two things: one, her daughter's training was going to be even more intense, or two, even more hours spent in the gravity room performing maintenance. By the time this will all be over, she'll have regained those five years she wished off from the Dragonballs to restore some of her youth.

When the girls wrapped up their conversation, Pan closed her tablet and set it aside. She felt excited that Bulla would fight in the tournament like she was and all she could think about as she was falling asleep was the training strategy she would implement in the coming months.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – "Escape from Universe 11's space prison! The Warrior who could control gravity."**

Universe 11's Space Prison. A maximum security facility that housed all manner of criminal, big and small. Whoever was apprehended by the Pride Troopers were sentenced to serve time at this facility until their parole unless there were more serious crimes that earned a life sentence. The Pride Troopers made an oath not to execute criminals unless it was absolutely necessary and wished nothing more than for these criminals to be rehabilitated to obey the law and be respectable citizens.

New recruits for the Pride Troopers had been assigned as guards in the prison, decked out in their traditional red and black spandex uniforms.

Commander Kutlerie, the warden of the Prison and long-time friend of Toppo, commanded a great deal of respect among the Pride Troopers and began enlisting Pride Troopers as guards when the regular guards had trouble maintaining order. He sent out a request to their HQ on Netfiss for any elite Pride Troopers to transfer to the prison and both Tupper and Vuon graciously volunteered to become members of the guard squadron. They became a welcome addition to the staff on board and they were pleased to see members of the team that fought in the Tournament of Power. Word spread quickly to the prisoners that they were now serving as guards and the mood changed. Hearing them speak about the strength of not only Toppo, but of Jiren the Gray had the prisoners vowing never to even mention Jiren by name unless they want to invite trouble.

Jiren's name alone carried with him a great deal of respect and even those who had been captured by the Pride Trooper's ultimate enforcer dared not speak of him for they knew what they had witnessed. When they learned about his actions in the Tournament of Power, they vowed to never commit atrocities for as long as they lived and would atone for their sins. They even confessed to crimes that weren't even on their record yet, crimes they had committed as youths before they became hardened criminals. They feared his power so much that they equated it to their oath of justice that they enforced with absolute prejudice.

Tupper and Vuon entered the medical bay of the prison, carrying an unconscious prisoner in their arms. His body, prisoner uniform, and face were lacerated and damaged so badly that he was unrecognizable from his normal appearance. Blood was still dripping down from the open cuts along his head, shoulders, abdomen, and legs.

He was very slim, barely an ounce of fat on his body, yet there was remarkable muscle definition to indicate rigorous physical training. He had a simian-like appearance despite the considerable damage done to it, fur covering most of his body except his hands, feet, and face with a single tuft of hair pointing upward along the back of his scalp.

There was a large empty tank with an open door and the nurses aided the Troopers to load the unconscious prisoner into the tank and sat him down on the stool inside. They affixed a breathing device to the prisoner's face and attached several pads to monitor his vitals, which began to display on a screen beside the tank. Once everything had been set up, they closed the door to the tank and a doctor pushed a button on the tank's front panel. He moved a few dials and buttons to make the proper adjustments, and a light green colored solution began to fill the tank inside.

Tupper leaned over the doctor's shoulder to watch the vitals on display.

"What's his status?" he asked.

"Low heartbeat, forty-two percent blood loss, multiple fractures in the ribcage, sternum, calves and skull from a blunt-force object and multiple lacerations with a bladed weapon. I estimate he will reach full recovery within six hours and eighteen minutes."

"That's at least two hours longer than yesterday," said Vuon as he approached the display. He glanced inside the glass window and shook his head. This wasn't the first, nor will it be the last time they bring this prisoner into the medical facility and each time Vuon noticed that the diagnosis was getting worse.

"We'll contact you as soon as the prisoner is back to full health," the doctor informed them and they saluted him with hands to their hearts.

"Thank you. Keep up the good work, all of you," Tupper said with a smile as the two Troopers left the room.

They saluted other Troopers as they passed them by, Trooper guards who were outfitted with special sashes to indicate their level of security, a blank sash being the first level. Both Tupper and Vuon had sashes themselves with a special medallion affixed to the top to let the other staff know they had top security access; a special privilege granted unto them by Warden Kutlerie himself. When they arrived at an archway, they pressed their hands on a reader and the light underneath turned the screen to a green color, allowing the doors to slide open into the quad, an open area where guards can mingle and monitor the workout area of the prisoners one level below with a glass ceiling that separated them from the guards watching above. The gym where prisoners could use to exercise had an array of weightlifting equipment and a recreational court where the prisoners played their favorite game of Bounceball, which was the Eleventh Universe equivalent of the popular sport of Basketball played on Universe 7's Earth. On certain days of the week, the gym would be converted into a fighting cage where two prisoners would enter to battle. The battles were hard fought until one prisoner could no longer continue and the fight would stop, the guards separating the victor from the defeated and escorting the injured to the Prison's sick bay for treatment with their state-of-the-art healing tanks and professional staff on duty with a long-time serving doctor: Dr. Ladille. In the Quad was a large board the guards used to set up a "deadpool" for a specific prisoner, the one Tupper and Vuon had just administered to Sick bay minutes ago. Prisoner 312-1984, his face (before it had been horribly damaged) and his prisoner number below displayed at the top with a grid of guard names on the left side and dates along the top, with numbers within each box to indicate wagers of zenni to be awarded to the winner should this prisoner actually die from his injuries suffered in his fights.

"What's the pool at now?" Vuon asked. He looked at all the numbers but didn't feel like adding them all up together.

"After today, the pot's gone up to over one-hundred thousand zenni. Forkas almost won with his high bet but as usual, number 312-1984 still lives to fight another day."

"Tch," Vuon spat. Prisoner 312-1984 had become sort of an enigma to the guards. Due to his slim build, he became an easy target for the larger prisoners to bully and they gave him a severe beat-down as part of their "initiation" shortly after he arrived to the Prison. After he recovered in the medical bay, it wasn't long before he was found near-death from another beat-down after he involved himself in another fight, only this time he was the one who initiated it. The repeated fights and injuries suffered by this prisoner led Tupper and Vuon to consult Warden Kutlerie about his behavior.

Kutlerie implemented a solution to convert the gym to a fighting cage so that they could monitor and organize any fights that might break out among the prisoners to ease tensions between everyone and the guards were eager to put forth this idea. Prisoner 312-1984 did not voice objection to this and eventually became the sole participant after the other prisoners realized how easy he was to beat up. This led to the idea of the guard's "Dead pool" set up in the Quad to place bets on whether this prisoner would survive his next fight or die from his injuries. When they discussed the idea of the dead pool with Kutlerie, he laughed. He never realized that all the fights involving prisoner 312-1984 would lead to this unique sort of situation. Morale among the prisoners improved once 312-1984 became the sole combatant for a prisoner to fight and they made a promise to the guards that they would not assault this prisoner outside of the scheduled cage fight.

"Who's his opponent tomorrow?" Vuon asked and Tupper scanned the top row of the grid and the date that was written. In two days' time from today's fight, prisoner 312-1984 is scheduled to fight prisoner 8-7965 and Vuon stared at the number for a moment and realized who that prisoner was.

"Oof, it's come down to this," he said. Tupper frowned as he stared at the board.

"Looks like you might win this pool after all, Vuon," he said, but he wasn't enthusiastic when he said it.

"Well, if I do, I'm scheduling a week off and relax on Netfiss. I wouldn't mind paying our old friends a visit and I heard they've got a resort with discount rates for Pride Troopers," Vuon said but Tupper wasn't paying attention, merely staring off at the board. All of the previous prisoner's numbers were erased, indicating that the pool had not been won yet. Tupper walked away from the board to the guard's lounge room and Vuon shrugged, following behind.

Tupper's communicator bleeped as he was engaged in a card game with Vuon and two other guards some time later while they were in the break room. The day had been overall quiet, the prisoners were on edge wondering if 312-1984 was going to survive this time and murmurs of who would have to replace him were growing louder. They saw how worse he looked and a few even felt concerned for 312-1984's health. The guards' shift rotation schedule meant that Tupper and Vuon took it easy this week, which was something they were glad to experience after a brawl broke out in the gym space days earlier between prisoners arguing among each other over access to the bench press. This was one of very few incidents where tensions flared up among prisoners.

They handled the situation and those involved had to be put in solitary confinement the following week. Things eventually went back to normal and attention shifted back to the pool to see who would be the one to lay the killing blow on 312-1984.

"Commander Tupper, prisoner 312-1984 has fully recovered, over," a female voice said over the comm as Tupper was about to pick a card from Vuon's hand.

"Acknowledged, Tupper out," he said and pushed a button to shut it off. Vuon looked slightly upset that Tupper was about to pick the joker card from his hand but retracted his hand when the communicator went off. Both he and Tupper set their cards down and stood back up, walking out of the room.

When they arrived at Sick Bay, they saw prisoner 312-1984 seated on a stool while a nurse was performing a final check-up. When she nodded to Dr. Ladille, he turned to the two Pride Troopers.

"He's all yours, Commander," the doctor said and both Tupper and Vuon walked over to the prisoner.

"Stand," commanded Vuon and the prisoner stood up. He knew what the routine was and extended his arms forward as they fastened metallic restraints on his wrists and ankles. When they locked in place, the lights on each bracelet turned red. The prisoner said nothing, staring at the floor as he walked in between the two Pride Troopers with a neutral expression. Every fight that forced him to recover in the medical room and every release back into escort with the guards became second nature to him and he made no fuss nor asked questions as he was led to the arch. Tupper and Vuon cleared the security check and the barrier in the archway shut off, letting them pass. It turned back on as soon as they cleared the threshold and they walked over to a lift that would take them down to the workout area.

"You still have forty minutes of recreation time before dinner. Make the best of it while you're there and do not provoke the other prisoners," Vuon said, his arms crossed. Tupper and Vuon had a habit of playing a game of good guard, bad guard as they escorted each prisoner or group of prisoners to designated areas.

"Understood," the prisoner said.

When the lift reached the lower level, the gate swung open automatically and the prisoner was led to the workout area, while Tupper and Vuon stood near an area that separated the workout area from the sidelines as guards patrolled and monitored the prisoners within their designated area. A barrier had been erected to separate the prisoners from the guards and it disappeared when the tech guard in charge saw Tupper and Vuon escort the prisoner from the lift. When they walked out of the zone, the guard re-activated the barrier and the two guards stood at attention to watch over everyone.

Prisoner 312-1984 glanced back at the two guards, then set his sights on the workout area. He saw the usual beefier prisoners hovering over a bench press to spot for a large muscular prisoner while he lifted a barbell with 3 large plates on either side. Two were sparring with boxing moves while a circle of prisoners was cheering them on. The two who were sparring were both wearing protective equipment so they knew that this was just a light sparring match. When 312-1984 walked over to the group, they all stopped. A few whispers were exchanged from the back and they chuckled, while a few others were a little surprised as they looked at him.

"Well, well, well. Look who's still kickin' around, boys!" said one of the boxers and his opponent walked over to the prisoner and slammed a gloved hand on his shoulder.

"You are something else, surviving like this," he said and the prisoner shrugged his shoulders.

"Must be luck, I guess," the prisoner responded and he crossed his arms. "Don't let me stop you two, keep going."

The two boxers nodded at each other and resumed their sparring session. After a few minutes, the prisoner noticed that the beefy prisoners were done with the bench and he walked over. One of the beefy men saw him walk over to the bench and nudged his buddies.

"Check it, Kelerot's back. Want one of us to spot ya?" he asked, a bit of a sarcastic tone in his voice. Kelerot, the prisoner the guards referred to as 312-1984, simply raised his hand.

"No need, I'll manage," he said.

"Up to you, bro," the first guy said, the largest of the three beefy gym bros. He took the large plates off the barbell and set them back on their rack as Kelerot lied down on the bench. He grabbed the bar and closed his eyes.

A few seconds passed by and he grunted as he lifted the blank bar. The beefy bros laughed each time Kelerot struggled to lift the bar to its apex before he lowered it to his chest for each rep in his set.

What was odd about this to everyone except Kelerot was that it looked like he struggled to lift nothing but the bar itself. The prisoners saw this as a sign of Kelerot being a weakling, which coincided with how popular he was in the cage fights. Kelerot, however, had a method to his weightlifting that no one picked up on while he's served his sentence in prison.

To the naked eye, Kelerot was lifting a simple bar, but Kelerot was pushing against a level of gravity so intense that if he were to let go of the bar, it would've slice him in half and crash through the floor. That was one Kelerot's many secrets that he kept hidden from everyone. He used this technique with not only the barbell, but also the dumbbells that were on the rack, using the smallest weight to channel energy and increase the weight with a gravity field.

He developed the ability to control gravity over the years he spent in prison, starting small and working up towards being able to manipulate the gravity of various objects without affecting the area around it, localizing the gravity field on the object itself. He could control how much gravity he wanted an object to have or spread it wide enough to encompass an entire room. If he wanted to, he'd have the power to create a gravity field so intense that it wielded the same power as a black hole. He even had the ability to reverse gravity to make objects float or stay afloat in one spot and worked tirelessly each day with intense mental training to master all that he discovered about this.

Kelerot finished his workout and released the energy he channeled into each object to not arouse suspicion. When he realized that no one had the ability to sense when someone was channeling energy, he used this to his advantage to train his energy control. It became necessary for him to safely use gravity techniques due to how much energy it required to pull off without backfiring.

When time had elapsed in the gym, the prisoners were escorted to the dining hall. They didn't say a single word as they were closely monitored by the guards, each one getting their portion of dinner on a tray. Kelerot got his portion and walked over to his usual spot, a table that was near a set of windows that looked out into space. Several times the other prisoners felt it would be funny to trip him up but Kelerot either stepped over their leg or stepped around it to avoid it, sometimes without even looking at the extended legs in the first place. This vexed them but the warnings from the guards stopped them from attempting any further.

When Kelerot sat down at his table, familiar faces to him sat around him. They ate quietly as usual, but they stopped when a large man, the largest they had ever seen, walk over to their table. Kelerot's back was facing the large prisoner who's face resembled a large crocodile. His deformed eye gave that extra bit of nastiness that caused a few other prisoners to avoid him as much as possible, even during his time lifting weights. He was one of the only prisoners who intimidated everyone else, except Kelerot. His muscles bulged through his prisoner garb as he towered over Kelerot and the other prisoners gave him a warning look not to provoke the guards into action.

"Looks like I get the honor of tearing you apart tomorrow," the large man said, his toothy grin drooling down on Kelerot's head.

Kelerot didn't say anything. He kept eating as the other prisoners stared at him. There wasn't a single expression of fear on Kelerot's face. They waited to see whether the crocodile-faced prisoner named Reizuko would actually lay a hand on him unless the guards restrained him, but all Reizuko did was pound his chest and chuckle.

"I, the great Reizuko, will finally put this little maggot down for good, when none of you pathetic little worms could do it before," he announced and both Tupper and Vuon, who were among the guards keeping watch, approached him from behind.

"That's enough, 8-7965," Tupper said and Reizuko glanced behind his shoulder at him. He was still a few inches taller than the both of them but sighed as he shoved Kelerot's face forward.

"Enjoy your last meal, Kelerot," Reizuko said as he walked away to get his food. Tupper and Vuon exchanged a look and Vuon shook his head.

"He's probably more bark than bite," Tupper said and Vuon chuckled a bit. They walked over to Kelerot and stood at each side.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind us saying this, but maybe with this guy tomorrow, you could at least fight back?" Tupper said and Kelerot didn't say anything for a few moments. He finished his meal and stood up, glancing at the two Pride Troopers.

"I'll be fine," he said and he walked away with his empty tray. Tupper and Vuon followed close behind him and escorted him to his cell. They detached the bracelets from his wrists and ankles and opened the cell door.

"I think we can put in a word to Kutlerie and set up a different fighter for you tomorrow. Maybe a re-match with 228-936?" Tupper said as Kelerot stopped short of entering the cell. He turned back to face the two guards and he frowned.

"I never expected you to show concern for a prisoner. I guess the money's not that important?"

Tupper and Vuon looked at each other, then Tupper frowned.

"Forkas invented this 'Dead pool' because he thinks that since you look so weak and get beat up so much in the cage, the guards could pool their resources together and gamble your life away. To be honest I'm having second thoughts about 8-7965, he was one of those prisoners most of us didn't want to add to the dead pool, but Forkas kept pestering Kutlerie to add him and he obliged. Now I'm considering retracting my wager and pulling out of the pool. Vuon, you should do the same."

"Me? Why? I've got the highest wager right now," Vuon protested.

"I don't fear death," Kelerot said. He kept a straight face as he stared at the two guards and they shrugged.

"We're only making a suggestion. We know you want to keep doing this but we also want to make sure you survive until your parole hearing," Tupper said and Kelerot nodded. He walked into his cell, the door sliding closed behind him. His back was still turned to Tupper and Vuon and the two guards walked away.

"He doesn't fear death? How many prisoners can you honestly say are gluttons for punishment?" Vuon said and Tupper shook his head.

"I wish I knew what went on in that head of his," he said and the guards did their rounds, making sure the other prisoners were back into their cells before the doors closed.

Kelerot paced around his cell. _Parole day is soon. I should be strong enough by that point._

He sat down on the floor and he closed his eyes, focusing his energy. He levitated off the floor and floated a couple feet up while he meditated.

After he completed his mental and energy control exercises, he slipped on wrist and ankle bands and channeled an antigravity field in the ankle bands to make himself float upside-down. He then focused an intense gravity field within the wrist bands to make them heavier. He bent his arms and began to lift himself upward so his elbows would reach past his legs and he continued to do that, concentrating and stabilizing his energy while he did it. Each successful attempt motivated him to increase the gravity even more until he could no longer lift himself to reach his legs with his head.

Kelerot worried sometimes that his energy might slip up and he'd lose his focus on the gravity wells and they would pull in everything around it like a gravity well, killing everyone in the prison including himself. He practiced mastering that energy control to avoid making critical mistakes and his focus was on counting each time he reached his legs with his head.

Some time later, he was just about finished. "9,997…9,998…9,999…tennnn…thousannnddd."

He dropped his arms down and released his energy, releasing the energy to bring the gravity back to normal and he fell to the floor, breathing heavily.

He squeezed his hands into fists a few times while looking at his arms, the sweat soaked fur on his face and head dripping down on both his prisoner garb and on the floor. He paused for a moment to steady his breathing and he thought back to the day when the universe had been erased.

"Feels like it still happened yesterday," he said to himself. Remembering everything around him bear that eerie white aura before it disappeared brought a shiver down his spine. He wiped the sweat off him with a spare sheet and tossed it on the floor.

Word about the Tournament of Power reached Kelerot and he was surprised to hear that his universe wasn't the only one in existence.

What surprised him more was the day he overheard the word "Saiyan" blurted out from Tupper's mouth as he was talking to Vuon. They spoke at length about the involvement of the Saiyans from the Seventh Universe and how powerful they were. Kelerot didn't know that there were other universes that had species like his and he felt eager to meet them someday. But how in the hell would he ever get himself there to meet them?

Dismissing those random thoughts, Kelerot slipped on ankle bands and channeled energy in them to increase the gravity, weighing them down significantly. He pressed his hands down on the floor and lifted himself up, holding his legs up in the air. When he steadied himself, he pushed himself down to the floor, then back up, repeating this process as much as he did his previous exercise. He alternated between standing on both hands to just one, counting each time he went down then back up. When he completed that exercise, he stood back on his feet and removed the ankle bands to slide them under his pillow. He worked himself to exhaustion and slumped himself on the bed, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

An alarm sounded throughout the area to wake up the prisoners and Kelerot sat up. He felt the soreness in his arms and legs but he ignored it. He stood up and did a few light exercises and stretches to loosen and wake himself up fully.

The door opened and Kelerot stood ready for the guards to fix the bracelets on his wrists and ankles. He knew that he felt strong enough to break free of these and destroy everything around him, but his parole day was coming up and he wasn't going to jeopardize his opportunity. Shaving ten years off his sentence was more than enough to motivate him to behave and play along with this game the warden had set up for him and the other prisoners.

The prisoners were led to the cafeteria for their first meal and then to the workout space for exercises before they were given their assignments for the day. Kelerot had been exempt from several of these since he was given the task of being the "main attraction" to the entertainment of the other prisoners as well as the guards waging zenni on the Dead Pool.

Kelerot thought about Reizuko and wondered how much restraint he'd need to put on himself so he wouldn't be completely overwhelmed by his opponent's strength. It had become a chore now, lowering his power to endure all that punishment, but being able to build up such an insane tolerance for pain meant he slowly forgot what pain even felt like. He lost count how many bones had been broken, how many bruises and welts were on his body, how much blood he lost over the years that had been replenished during his healing period in that damn tank. All of this would eventually be behind him, freedom soon within his grasp.

The time of Kelerot's "fight" with Reizuko came and the two stepped in the workout area that had been converted to the fighting cage, the workout equipment placed along the walls to create space for the two to fight. Kelerot sighed and took a deep breath, lowering his energy as low as it could go and he pretended to put up a fighting pose as he glanced up at Reizuko.

"I can't wait to wear down the skin on these knuckles busting your skull," he said, cracking the bones in his fingers, then cracking his neck as he glared down at Kelerot with a sadistic grin on his face. Kelerot stared up at him, then went to throw a weak-looking fist. Reizuko side-stepped and struck Kelerot across the face with a hard right hook, knocking him down to the floor. Kelerot was slow to get to his feet but only managed to get to his hands and knees. The other prisoners were egging Reizuko on, the large prisoner pumping his fist in the air.

"Down in one shot! How'd you like that?" Reizuko laughed as he kicked Kelerot in the gut and send him rolling across the floor to the wall. Kelerot coughed and spit out some blood, a bit of a grin appearing on his face. He eventually got back to his feet and Reizuko grabbed one of the larger dumbbells and stalked towards Kelerot.

"I'm going to make this quick and painless. One good shot on your skull and your brains will be leaking all over this floor," Reizuko said and Kelerot's face darkened a bit. _If that does hit me full on as I am now, I might actually die from that._

He steadied himself and slightly increased his power for the time it would take to endure a hit from the weight Reizuko was carrying and he was able to catch the weight in his hands as Reizuko barreled down on him from above with his arm. He forced Kelerot to his knees and punched him repeatedly in the face with his free arm.

"Entertain us, monkey man!" Reizuko yelled as he continued punching Kelerot and drove the weight down to connect, forcing through Kelerot's grip.

Kelerot hit the floor and his eyesight was fading. He was beginning to lose consciousness as a trickle of blood went into one of his eyes. Wiping his eye, he felt a hand grab him by the hair and pull him up off the floor. Because Reizuko was so tall, Kelerot was at least a foot off the floor, and he went to kick Reizuko, but his leg was caught. Reizuko grabbed the leg and turned around, slamming Kelerot face first into the floor. That was enough to knock him out completely and to add insult, Reizuko let the weight drop from his hand on top of Kelerot's back, bouncing off to land on the floor. The other prisoners stopped cheering and Reizuko nudged Kelerot onto his back with a foot, staring down at his bloodied face and he smiled.

"This is the one that entertains you? Pathetic. I expected more from this monkey snot but I'm severely disappointed. Are there any among you who have the guts to challenge me? I've only just warmed up."

Tupper and Vuon descended down to the floor below and Reizuko backed away a couple of steps.

"You know the rules, 8-7965. Once 312-1984 is unable to continue, the fight is over. He is the only prisoner that fights!" Tupper said and Reizuko spat in his direction.

"What a load of crap. I want another fighter, a better fighter than that," Reizuko said and Vuon glared at him, hand to his side. Reizuko saw that his hand was hovering over a controller with a red button but he didn't seem phased by it.

"Stand down, 8-7965 so we can bring him to Sick Bay," Vuon said and he went to grab Kelerot by the arm, hoisting him up. Tupper was checking for a pulse.

"I can't feel a pulse, Vuon. We need to get him into that healing tank immediately."

"Hah, let him die. What's one less monkey snot to this place?" Reizuko said and turned to the other prisoners. He spotted one that looked a bit worried and he pointed at him.

"You! Come and keep Reizuko company!" he yelled and Vuon hissed. He pushed the button and the bracelets on Reizuko sent a shock powerful enough to bring him to his knees as the electricity coursed through his arms and legs and up his spine to his head, enveloping his whole body. When he was electrified enough to lay on the floor completely, Vuon signaled to the other guards to bring him back to his cell and he resumed carrying Kelerot to Sick Bay. When the doors slid open, some of the staff gasped when they saw Kelerot.

"He's unresponsive," Tupper said as he quickly brought him to the healing tank. The nurse opened it and they began to set up Kelerot inside. Tupper and Vuon both looked at each other.

"You still want that money, Vuon?" Tupper asked and Vuon sighed.

"Now? Goodness no," Vuon said and Tupper nodded.

"Is he dead?" Tupper asked the nurse and she shook her head.

"Too early to tell," she said and ran a scanner over Kelerot. She frowned as the results came in.

"He's going to have to stay here overnight. This is the worse case I've seen yet of this prisoner's injuries," she said and Tupper leaned back against a table with his arms crossed.

"We're stopping this dead pool, effective today," he concluded and Vuon nodded.

"When should we report to Kutlerie?" he asked and Tupper turned to the nurse.

"Are you sure you can keep him alive in that healing tank until he's back to one hundred percent the next day?" he asked her and she glanced down at the floor, sighing.

"We'll do our best, Mr. Tupper," she said and the two guards nodded, leaving the medical bay.

They walked over to the guards who had brought Reizuko back to his cell and they stood in front of him.

"If prisoner 312-1984 dies from his injuries, a formal inquiry will be held to determine what sort of judgment shall be passed upon you," Tupper said and Reizuko laughed.

"Listen to you two, taking the moral high ground. I hear often about this 'Dead Pool' you guards have created and you were always eager to see who among us would deal the killing blow to that monkey snot and now you want to judge me for murder?"

Tupper glared at Reizuko and his hand went to his own device on his belt.

"I'd watch your tongue if I were you, unless you want to spend the whole night with electricity running through your body."

Reizuko crossed his arms, smirking at Tupper.

"Tch, Pride Troopers. How quick you are to judge so blindly. Why are you so keen on keeping that one alive?" he asked and Tupper smiled.

"Prisoner 312-1984 could have died at any point during his time served here, but he has always survived. The morale boost that it gave us and to the prisoners is what keeps this prison in order. The number of skirmishes and illegal activity decreased because prisoner 312-1984 has graciously volunteered to put his body on the line as an outlet for prisoner stress and frustration. We're ending this now and we will donate the money to help those in need on Netfiss. We want to do what's right for the people in this universe and our guaranteed protection is all that matters to us. The guards respect justice, and the prisoners respect justice. We expect you to respect this as well, unless of course you want Jiren to be your next opponent. Just throwing that out there."

Reizuko's eyes widened at the sound of Jiren's name being thrown so casually from Tupper's lips. He gulped and backed away a couple of steps, sitting down on his bed. He stared ahead.

"I'm sorry," he said and Tupper nodded.

"Apology accepted," he said and closed the door to Reizuko's cell. He turned to Vuon and started to walk towards Warden Kutlerie's office, Vuon following close behind.

When they arrived, Kutlerie was putting a ball towards a mechanized patch of green felt, the ball going in the built-in hole on top. The machine spat it back to Kutlerie's putter as the doors slid open. He putted again and the ball narrowly missed the hole. He cracked a bit of a smile when he saw Tupper and Vuon appear and he sat down at his desk.

"Gentlemen," he said and the doors closed behind them. Tupper and Vuon saluted Kutlerie and Tupper cleared his throat.

"Sir, we formally request termination of the Dead Pool effective immediately," he said and Kutlerie raised an eyebrow.

"On what grounds?"

"Prisoner 312-1984's injuries sustained during his fight with prisoner 8-7965 were critical and there is a strong possibility that he will not survive the night. We're awaiting the results of the healing tank from Dr. Labille once he's consulted with the nursing staff. Prisoner 8-7965's actions during the fight were unrestrained, caused severe trauma to the head and back and showed no life signs when we checked on him. They will keep him under observation overnight unless we receive a report confirming death had occurred."

"I see. And this concerns the both of you?" Kutlerie said. His tone didn't carry the gravitas of worry that Tupper and Vuon's did and the two senior guards glanced at each other.

"That is our main concern, sir," Tupper said.

"Has your request to terminate the Dead Pool been confirmed with the other guards?" Kutlerie asked.

"No sir, we came to this decision on our own, and we can confirm that Sick Bay will back up our decision," Vuon said.

"The guards who serve under our command have always trusted our judgment, sir," Tupper said. "I know they would agree if I were to tell them we were terminating this dead pool. Even Forkas would have to be on board since we outrank him."

"Is this a wise decision to make? What would happen to the prisoners once word got out that there would be no more caged fights should Prisoner 312-1984 die from his injuries? What outlet would the prisoners have to de-stress, then? Can we risk putting ourselves back in the same position we were years ago before the two of you transferred here to restore order?"

"Sir, you do realize that prisoner 312-1984 has his parole hearing five days from now," Tupper said.

"Yes, and?" Kutlerie said. This was a first for Tupper and Vuon and their eyes opened up a bit wider.

"Sir? If prisoner 312-1984 provides a compelling argument for his freedom, are we not allowed to grant it?" Tupper asked and Kutlerie gave him a simple smile behind his graying beard. He took his pipe that was resting against a wooden plate for his ashes and placed a fresh batch of tobacco from a small wooden box that he opened. When he lit it up, he eased back on his chair and took a few puffs, eyeing his top guards.

"I've run this prison long before you two enrolled with Pride Troopers. At no time during any parole hearing I've attended have I heard a convincing argument from these prisoners that were granted. The only thing that keeps these criminals in line is fear: Fear of our brand of justice.

"When Lord Belmod helped Toppo with the formation of a team of enforcers, they were trusted with a single purpose: Uphold law and order in the universe and smite all evildoers who stood in our way. Anyone who dared commit even a single against our system of justice would either be punished swiftly or be sentenced to my prison to serve under my rule until they could be rehabilitated. But I have no intention on seeing these scumbags infest our universe ever again. The sentences we make them serve are merely a formality; for only I decide whether they are suitable to return to civilization."

Tupper and Vuon nodded.

"We understand, sir," Tupper said.

"What if prisoner 312-1984 does die? What do you suggest we do then?" Vuon asked. He felt uncomfortable standing in front of his superior and Kutlerie stood up. Extinguishing his pipe, he opened up the cupboard behind him and took down a bottle of whiskey with a glass, setting them both on his desk. He poured himself a glass and took a sip before he walked around to stand before them, grabbing the handle of his putter.

"If prisoner 312-1984 dies, then we'll simply find a replacement to continue our Dead Pool. Our system works to ensure that these prisoners behave the way we intend them to and breaking that system would lead to chaos. Would you want that kind of burden upon your conscious, Tupper? Vuon?"

"No, sir," they both said, saluting Kutlerie.

"Good. I don't expect you to bring this up again. Are we clear?" Kutlerie ordered and the two guards saluted.

"Clear, sir," they both said and turned around, leaving the room.

When the doors closed behind them, Tupper glanced at Vuon, his face growing more upset as seconds passed.

"This wasn't what I signed up for, Vuon. Kutlerie's a trusted commander among the Pride Troopers yet I fear that his time spent here has corrupted his sense of justice and morality. We're upholders of justice, not dictators ruling with an iron fist."

"I agree," Vuon said, stopping. Tupper crossed his arms and stared down at the gym below and sighed.

"To think that all those parole hearings we've attended over the past ten years were just for show. Seeing the pain and disappointment on their faces each time Kutlerie denied them disgusted me. I saw their willingness to improve their life and respect our sense of justice, but I had no idea that Kutlerie was such a person. Does Toppo know the kind of person his friend had become?"

"I say we speak to him and ask him to convince Kutlerie to change his mind," Vuon suggested and Tupper nodded. They both began making their way down to the lift to take them to the lower level.

"He is now our universe's Destroyer so he commands greater authority and respect than he did as our leader. Convincing Kutlerie shouldn't be a problem for him. But for now we should keep this to ourselves and not arouse suspicion. The last thing we need is a full-blown mutiny from the prisoners and the guards. Justice is not biased towards anyone; justice is absolute and will be carried forth, Vuon."

Vuon nodded and they made their way to Sick Bay for an update.

"His vitals are stable and he is on course for a full recovery. Estimated time to be 0900 hours tomorrow morning before you can see him to escort him back to his cell," Dr. Labille reported and Tupper breathed a sigh of relief.

"That is good news. It would be grim news if he were to die less than a week before his parole hearing. No one should die so soon before freedom is afforded to them," Tupper said and Vuon knew he had to make up a lie to keep morale up. Tupper hated that he had to do this to himself and Vuon was well aware of it. He too had to create a façade after what he had witnessed and all he could feel was his stomach retching. None of this was right and he hoped that meeting their friend would help convince Kutlerie to change his mind.

When they had received the official prognosis, they resumed their duties and acted as though nothing was out of the ordinary. They stopped by the following morning to retrieve Kelerot and he stood at attention waiting for them to affix the bracelets on his wrists and ankles.

"Why didn't you put up a fight against him?" Tupper asked and Kelerot glanced up at him.

"I underestimated his strength," he simply replied and didn't say anything else until they escorted him to the laundry room.

"You're on custodial and laundry duty today. Take it easy and try not to antagonize anyone. We'll let you know who and when your next opponent will be," Vuon told him and they left Kelerot alone to join up with a group of prisoners who were already at work cleaning the floors with brushes. Kelerot had a mop and a bucket, waiting for them to finish and he began to mop the floors. He channeled energy into the mop to increase its gravity and he began to struggle pushing it, giving off the illusion that he was too weak to mop the floor and the other prisoners began to laugh.

"C'mon, Kelerot, the mop ain't that heavy," noted a tall slim dark-green skinned humanoid with black horns on his head. He walked over and Kelerot released the energy before he snatched the mop out of his hands. He gracefully went around the room mopping the floors while Kelerot looked on and the others whistled and cheered him on. When he was done, he thrust the mop handle into Kelerot's chest and sneered at him with a grin on his face.

"I think all those beatings have made you too soft. It's like the meat's been tenderized so much it's gone to mush," he said and that got a bit of a chuckle from a couple prisoners.

"It's a shame, Dishus," said a shorter looking prisoner and Dishus took out a toothpick that had been offered to him. He put it in his mouth and he began to chew on one end, twirling it around as it went from side to side in his mouth.

"Yeah, it is a shame. Kelerot's so weak he's an insult to everyone who'd call themselves a fighter. At least start fighting back or something. It's almost as if you lose on purpose just to get felt up by the nursing staff."

The prisoners laughed and Kelerot cracked a smile for once.

"Well, you're not entirely wrong, Dishus," he said and Dishus frowned.

"Don't you be givin' me lip here, you monkey brat," he said, towering over him. He stood at least a head taller than Kelerot and the two locked eyes for a moment.

"Wait, you're not seriously telling us that you've been holding back to let yourself get beat up by those guys on purpose?" the smaller one said and Kelerot shrugged his shoulders.

"So what if I was?" he said and began to mop again, channeling energy once more to make it heavy so he had to struggle to push it once more and that left them a little confused. Dishus snatched the mop out of Kelerot's hands before he could release the energy and because the mop was still incredibly heavy, he couldn't grab hold of it and it slipped out of his hand to fall hard on the floor, causing it to crack underneath. It fell so hard that it immediately created a groove as it sank into the floor and Dishus stared at it in disbelief.

"Hey, what the hell is going on here? That mop was never that heavy. What did you do, Kelerot?"

Kelerot released the energy from the mop handle first before he bent to pick it up and Dishus growled at him. He shoved him aside and picked up the mop and was surprised that it felt light again.

"Is this some kind of sick joke? Are you trying to play some trick on us, Kelerot?" Dishus hissed and Kelerot shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Dishus. You were able to pick up the mop so it couldn't have been that heavy. Maybe these fights have left me weak over time that I can't even do a simple task like mopping the floor?"

Dishus was getting fed up and he broke the mop handle in two, taking the loose piece and pressing the broken end up against Kelerot's chin.

"I ain't messin' around, monkey. Admit that you did something to the mop and things will go easy for you. Or do you like doing things the hard way?" Dishus threatened by pushing Kelerot's chin up with the broken handle and Kelerot stood his ground, staring at him.

Dishus began to feel the broken stick grow heavier in his hand and he started to struggle keeping it up and the other prisoners were looking on in disbelief.

"Hey Dishus, what's going on?" the short one asked.

Dishus growled and tossed the broken handle aside and reached back to hit Kelerot in the face but when his fist connected, it was like punching a solid wall of Kachitite and he could feel the force break a couple of bones in his hand. He screamed out in agony and held his hand while the others stared at Kelerot with shocked expressions.

"What the hell are you?" Dishus screamed at Kelerot.

"I don't understand what you mean," Kelerot said, tilting his head to the side a bit. Dishus rushed at Kelerot again and went to throw a fist with his other hand and Kelerot caught the fist with only his thumb and index finger and he put pressure down on his grip, forcing Dishus to his knees.

"It's a shame you're not Reizuko, otherwise you'd be dead," Kelerot said and Dishus's eyes widened.

"Let go of me, you bastard!" Dishus cried and Kelerot released his grip, standing above him. Dishus quickly backed away to the other prisoners.

"When Kutlerie finds out about this he'll lock you away in solitary for the rest of your life!" Dishus screamed and Kelerot grinned.

"What's the likelihood that he'll believe you?" Kelerot said, crossing his arms. "Do you honestly think any of the guards would assume I was strong enough to break your hand and almost crush the other one? You'd be a laughingstock."

Dishus looked visibly shaken now, holding his hands. "When did you get this strong?"

"That's none of your concern. Get yourself to Sick Bay, we'll finish cleaning and doing the laundry. Besides, it doesn't matter to me whether you blab to the guards or not, none of them would be convinced I had that kind of power. Now get lost."

Dishus ran past Kelerot in a flurry of panic. Kelerot cleared his throat and stared as the other prisoners immediately resumed their duties in silence, looking uncomfortable as they did it. He picked up the broken mop and brought it to the storage room to replace it and he began to mop the floors, not bothering to channel energy this time so as not to arouse any more suspicion. He cursed himself for that slip up and hoped that the guards were stupid enough not to fall for Dishus's claims.

Lunch and break times were also quiet as some of the prisoners spread the word about Kelerot but were met with laughter and ridicule as they sat with Kelerot, who ate quietly as he usually did.

Tupper and Vuon walked into the cafeteria a short while after and they headed to Kelerot's table.

"Prisoner 312-1984, we need to have a word with you," Tupper said and the cafeteria went quiet as all eyes were on him and the guards now.

"What's wrong?" Kelerot asked.

"Your next opponent forfeited. Prisoner 14-499 was set to face you tomorrow but can not participate due to a severe hand injury."

Kelerot glanced up at Tupper and he realized that he was talking about Dishus. He wanted to smile, realizing that Dishus was going to be the next one to administer a beating to send him to the medical bay.

"According to his statement, he punched you and broke his hand in the process?" Vuon said and Kelerot blinked.

"I dodged his fist and he ended up punching the wall instead. Seemed like he didn't want to wait until tomorrow," Kelerot said, sighing.

"He's lying, guard!" said the short one that was with Dishus earlier and the group that Kelerot was with all stood up.

"That's a bold accusation, prisoner 16-622. The likelihood that 312-1984 has the strength required to break another prisoner's hand or any bone for that matter is impossible," Tupper said and prisoner 16-622 pointed a shaking finger at Kelerot.

"Don't believe him, guard! H-he's a monster with in-incredible strength. We-we saw him do this thing where he made the mop handle so heavy it created a dent in the floor when it fell!"

Kelerot shot a cold look at prisoner 16-622 for a moment before he calmly resumed eating and Tupper sighed.

"Vuon, go with a couple of guards to check the laundromat floor, see if his story checks out," Tupper said and Kelerot glanced behind him. He looked back at Tupper.

"You'll see that we're t-telling the truth, sir," prisoner 16-622 pleaded and Tupper crossed his arms.

"We'll conduct our investigation. Everyone back to your food and mind your own business, understood?" he called out to the prisoners and they complied. He glanced down at Kelerot and crossed his arms.

"Is he telling the truth?" Tupper asked him. Kelerot didn't say anything.

"You are aware that your silence might implicate you, 312-1984," Tupper said and Kelerot continued to eat in silence.

When Vuon returned with his guards, he handed the broken mop handle to Tupper.

"We can confirm that there is indeed a dent in the floor shaped to contour the mop handle, but there's no way to tell whether this could have done the damage it did. It'd have to weigh several hundred tons and be made of Kachitite if it was going to create a dent like that. Wood cannot have such a consistency."

"What of prisoner 16-622's claim that prisoner 312-1984 caused the mop handle to increase in weight?" said one of the guards and Tupper crossed his arms. He glanced down at Kelerot for a moment and went back to examine the mop handle more closely.

"Unsubstantiated, unfortunately. There's no evidence we can determine to support his claim unless we have prisoner 312-1984 show us that he has such an ability. Prisoner, can you demonstrate to us whether you have this ability or not?"

Kelerot glanced up at him and swallowed his mouthful. "Sure."

He stared at the broken handle for a few minutes but Tupper didn't feel anything different as he was holding it.

"Well?" Asked Vuon.

"I don't feel any increase in the weight," Tupper said and he stared ahead at prisoner 16-622's group, who looked back nervously at him.

"Just a waste of our time. Maybe some bar fell from the ceiling and crashed on the floor while no one was looking. Throw out the broken mop and we'll declare this an isolated incident. Prisoner 312-1984, I cannot stress this enough that you do not provoke any prisoners until your hearing. Understood?"

"Fine with me," Kelerot said and kept to himself for the rest of the day. As for the scheduled fight, no one decided to volunteer in his place due to the nature of the previous fight that involved Reizuko.

He had one final task the day before his parole hearing and that was to help organize the archives after some of the prisoners had borrowed reading material and returned them on a cart to be shelved later. The volunteer Trooper was helped by Kelerot to sort out the materials alphabetically and they spent equal time organizing and playing a game of strategy on their off-time. Kelerot didn't care about winning and only played it casually, he was more concerned with the hearing tomorrow and what sort of fate awaited him. He had a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that he would be denied but he knew that no matter what happened, he was leaving this prison.

When the day of his hearing arrived, Kelerot enjoyed one last meal before he marched to the briefing room. It was located in the south wing of the prison complex, a section that was reserved for the bureaucrats and paper pushers, the kind of prison staff that only work on the background to run things smoothly, shipping and receiving supplies, filing paperwork, filling transfer and vacation requests, and documenting new prisoner arrivals. The south wing staff had their own private kitchen and dining area, where connecting tubes linked the section with the launching dock for visiting ships and the main security control room that operated the entire prison.

Kelerot had been escorted by two guards who affixed the usual metal bracelets that locked in place on his writs and ankles and they opened the doors for him to walk into the room.

Standing across from him were Tupper and Vuon at each end of the table, Warden Kutlerie in the middle, and to his right was a man Kelerot hadn't see very often: the deputy Warden, Satula.

"Take a seat," Kutlerie ordered Kelerot and he sat down at the lone chair in front of the table, placing his hands on his lap.

"Your record of progress has been exemplary. You've shown yourself to be a model prisoner: obedient, loyal, respectful to his fellow prisoners and to the guards with minimal incidents involving other prisoners for the last five years. Have you atoned for your crime, prisoner?"

"I have, sir," Kelerot said, but he knew deep down he couldn't bring himself to believe it. He's had to live with this false accusation for so long for a crime he didn't commit and he wanted nothing more than to put that whole incident behind him.

"Do you understand the charges which had been laid out for you at the time of your arrest and incarceration? Troopers Toppo, Dyspo, and Kahseral have all provided statements of your guilt and you have admitted to the charges presented before you to minimize your term. Your sentence is due to end in ten years' time, yet today's hearing shall grant you the opportunity to convince the board that you have truly atoned and that you desire to uphold the law of the land and the justice it adheres to. Do you understand the statement as I have dictated forth?"

"I do, sir," Kelerot said.

"We leave the floor open for a statement on your behalf to convince the panel that you are worthy of release," Kutlerie said and eased back in his chair. Tupper and Vuon both looked at each other before they paid attention to Kelerot.

"My people lead a simple life. I grew up tending the fields of my planet with my family. We're farmers who follow the traditions of our ancestors and we occasionally learn how to defend ourselves against the wildlife that preys on the weaker members of our tribes. I've dreamt of exploring the stars outside my home and to see what was out there in the universe.

"I knew nothing of the universe or its many laws; we were only taught how to survive and sustain ourselves. It was unfortunate that I ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time when I hitched a ride on a transport ship that shipped our crops across the galaxy. I regret having ended up among a skirmish that involved pirates smuggling contraband across protected borders into Trooper governed zones. I had no way of proving my innocence and thus had to admit guilt to protect the safety and integrity of my home and my friends.

"My people are not evil, sir. We do not carry malice or desire to inflict harm on others or have any willingness to commit a criminal act whatsoever. My time spent here has made me yearn for my home world and if you grant my parole, that is one of the first things I wish to do."

Kutlerie leaned forward in his chair, glancing sideways at Satula with an unenthusiastic look on his face.

"What planet do you hail from, prisoner?" he asked.

"Planet Gardenia, sir," Kelerot said and the warden raised his eyebrows.

"Gardenia?" He said and brushed his hand through his hair. His aged features and wrinkles on his human face hid a look in his eyes that Kelerot could tell was hiding something and he frowned.

"Yes sir, I wish nothing more than to return to Gardenia. I miss it dearly," Kelerot said that last part quietly and Kutlerie sighed.

"I'm sorry to say this to you, prisoner but Gardenia isn't there anymore. It was destroyed ten years ago," Kutlerie said calmly yet casually, as though it wasn't really news to him. Kelerot's face paled as his heart sank.

"Destroyed. But that's not possible."

"It is according to Barbon the Destroyer," Kutlerie informed him.

"Barbon?" Kelerot asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me that you didn't know. Barbon was the name Toppo chose for himself when he was promoted to God of Destruction, replacing Lord Belmod. He was under orders to destroy Gardenia out of concern for the inhabitants, fearing some sort of uprising or rebellion against him. Belmod said something about Gardenians reminding him of people called 'Saiyans' that he saw at the Tournament of Power. When you mentioned your home world was Gardenia, it made me curious as to how you were overlooked. Perhaps Barbon forgot you were of that planet or maybe never saw a Gardenian up close to make the distinction, who knows? But the truth is that there's no home for you to return to. It'd be much safer for you if you remained here under our care. Parole denied."

Kelerot kept himself steady in his seat, his face darkening. He could feel anger building up inside him now, anger at what he had just heard.

"I see," he said. He had seen enough from these Pride Troopers now. It wasn't enough that he had been captured against his will, it wasn't enough that he had to admit guilt for a crime he had no part of where the pirates threw him to the wolves. The news that his home had been destroyed by Toppo only cemented the reason he trained his body all these years. A clear goal had now been established for him by this moron warden. Toppo would suffer his wrath, and not a single Pride Trooper was going to stop him.

He stared directly at Kutlerie and narrowed his eyes. Kutlerie stared back, feeling uneasy at the look he was getting from Kelerot.

"I sense defiance in your gaze, prisoner. It would be unwise of you to antagonize us, otherwise you will suffer the consequences," Kutlerie said and Kelerot didn't take his eyes off him.

"Is that a threat, warden?" he asked and both Tupper and Vuon stood up.

"Prisoner 312-1984, please don't, I wouldn't recommend it," Tupper said and Kelerot glared at him.

"I am not a number for you people to call me by. I am a Saiyan from the planet Gardenia and my name is Kelerot," he said and the bracelets snapped off his wrists and ankles, flying across the room. He stood up and brought his hands out and a wave of gravitational force came down on the whole room. Tupper and Vuon felt themselves being pulled down and they struggled to stay on their feet, while Kutlerie and Satula broke the chairs underneath them, crashing to the floor. Kelerot breathed a sigh of relief and cracked his neck, finally being able to put all his training to use and he walked freely around the room, staring down at Kutlerie.

"Do you have any idea the hell you've put me through all these years, Kutlerie?" Kelerot said and Kutlerie tried desperately to move but his whole body was now flattened against the floor. Tupper tried in vain to hold himself up by the table but that gave way to the gravitational force and it broke apart, flattening itself on the floor. Vuon tried to channel energy to use his Justice Whip but his body felt so heavy he couldn't focus enough power into his hand. He too fell and ended up face first on the floor.

He approached the table and gently lifted it up to see the four of them on the floor, struggling to move. He threw the table to the side and it fell, smashing into pieces from the sheer weight alone. He glared down at Kutlerie, who stared back at him wide-eyed and fear-stricken.

"How does it feel looking into the eyes of a man who has nothing to lose? If you had kept your trap shut about Gardenia, your fate would've been much kinder, and also much more _merciful_."

Kutlerie reached up with his hand, the weight making it feel unbearable and his eyes pleaded with Kelerot.

"Release us…please," Kutlerie said and Kelerot let the gravitational field subside a bit, but only enough to allow the four to get back to their feet. Satula, in his own panic, began to crawl over to the door at the back of the room to escape but Kelerot merely glanced at him. He raised his hand and slammed Satula down with an isolated field of gravity that was more intense than what he was controlling in the room.

"How are you doing this?" Tupper asked, breathing heavily. He managed to get himself back up on his feet and he moved slowly to help Kutlerie and Vuon up. Each step was done painstakingly slow, moving one foot after the next. Kelerot watched them closely.

"I have my secrets, Tupper, secrets that you don't deserve to know. You and Vuon have been good to me, I'll give you that. But I'm afraid I cannot let a single one of you leave this prison alive. I no longer have a need for this place."

Tupper closed his eyes and channeled energy into his body to make himself feel lighter. He altered his weight to counteract as much of the gravity as he could and he darted forth at Kelerot. He went to throw a punch but Kelerot stopped it with a finger.

"You don't have to do this, you know. Stop this now and we'll help you leave this prison," Tupper said, lowering his arm and Kelerot smiled.

"What are you saying, you fool?!" Kutlerie screamed but Tupper glared down at him.

"Warden Kutlerie, we cannot allow you to continue abusing your authority in this manner. Your corruption has gone on long enough and we cannot allow you to deny these prisoners the opportunity to redeem themselves and atone for their crimes."

"I see. I wasn't going to be paroled no matter how much I pleaded with him," Kelerot asked and Tupper shook his head. It upset him that he had to rebel against the warden in this fashion, but he was taking a serious gamble with this decision.

"He's been abusing his power for a long time. I'm not sure Lord Barbon has been aware of it. Kutlerie has perverted our oath to preserve law and order in the universe and spat in the face of true justice. He must be held accountable for his actions and Lord Barbon can vouch for us."

"You'd dare betray the Pride Troopers to assist a prisoner's escape, Tupper? You as well, Vuon?" Kutlerie asked. Kelerot released the gravitational field in the room and Kutlerie rose to his feet. Kelerot still held Satula in place as Vuon approached him.

"Release your hold on the deputy warden," Vuon suggested and Kelerot sighed.

"Can you be sure that this one isn't as corrupt as Kutlerie?" he asked.

"We can't say for sure. The deputy warden runs a different branch of the prison system than the warden does so we don't see him as often. Satula does have a mandatory obligation to attend all parole hearings though," Tupper said and Kelerot raised an eyebrow. He raised his hand and with a simple jerk of his wrist, he released the gravity on Satula and the deputy warden scurried back to the wall, breathing heavily while his face was full of terror.

"Please spare us, prisoner! We'll give you whatever you want! We'll grant you full pardon, we'll clear your records, anything!" Satula yelled, putting his hands together. Kelerot walked over to Satula and stopped beside Kutlerie. A quick snap of his arm and he grabbed the warden by the neck, raising him off the floor. He waved his other hand and locked Tupper and Vuon's feet in place with a gravity field. He glanced up at Kutlerie and threw him across the room to the wall at such a velocity that Kutlerie crashed through, half of his body still inside the room. His body went limp yet Tupper and Vuon weren't sure whether Kutlerie was dead or unconscious.

"You say you'll give me anything, is that right?" Kelerot asked, staring down at him. His tone of voice was still ice cold and menacing, and Satula knew Kelerot wasn't playing around.

"Yes, anything!" Satula said.

"Will you give me my home back? Will you have _Lord Barbon_ restore the planet to the way it was or is that impossible? What about that other one? The kai or whatever he's called?" Kelerot asked. He would often hear Tupper and Vuon talk of the Supreme Kai who worked with Barbon.

"The Supreme Kai, Cae? I-I don't know for sure," Satula said and Kelerot grabbed him by the collar, lifting him up to slam him against the wall.

"I wasn't expecting you to know, but what you will do is get me a ship to get off this place once and for all. And no funny business either, I don't want to have to end your sorry existence," Kelerot said and he dropped Satula on the floor. Satula backed away quickly to the door and stood up.

"If everyone is compliant, no one will have to die. Kutlerie's alive, I can still sense his energy. But if any of you tries something foolish," Kelerot warned as he brought his hands up and channeled energy between his hands to conjure up a black ball of energy with a dark gray aura surrounding it. He left it in place as he walked around it to Satula. He grabbed him by the arm and turned to Tupper and Vuon.

"I wouldn't touch that," he said as Vuon was about to reach out with his hand. Kelerot had released the gravity field that held their feet in place and the two guards followed close behind.

"What is that ball of energy for?" Tupper asked.

"A Black Hole Bomb. A gravity well so poweful it'll suck in this whole place and everyone in it. It's not quite like a black hole, but for all intents and purposes you might as well just call it one. So long as no one touches it or I don't activate it, this structure and everyone in it will live on. Let's go."

He shoved Satula forward and he led him to the landing dock of the prison, dismissing the guards that were inside. He led Kelerot to one of the ships and pushed a button to open the hatch.

"Do you know how to pilot one of these ships?" He asked.

"I read about ships like these at the archives so I am familiar with the terminology and mechanics," Kelerot said and he flew up to land in the cockpit of the ship. When he closed the hatch, he studied the panel in front of him and deduced the buttons for activating the thrusters, the steering mechanism, and hyperdrive controls. He didn't see any weapons but figured that these were transport and patrol ships for the prison so no weapons would ever be on these in the first place.

As soon as Kelerot activated the thrusters, a transmission was coming through the comm channel and he raised an eyebrow.

"Attention: All Pride Trooper cruisers and patrol ships within a 10 light year radius! Repeat, all Pride Trooper cruisers and patrol ships within a 10 light year radius! This is a priority one emergency! Prisoner 312-1984 has escaped! Repeat! Prisoner 312-1984 has escaped! Transmitting data on Prisoner 312-1984 to all Pride Troopers within communication range! Do NOT approach this prisoner, advise extreme caution! This is a priority one emergency!"

"Imbecile," Kelerot said and snapped his fingers. He activated the Black Hole Bomb in the room and it began pulling everything around it inside like a giant vacuum. The unconscious form of Kutlerie was one of the first to be sucked into the vortex and the field was so small that it crushed him completely, unable to leave a single trace of him in the room as it was being destroyed, collapsing within the small event horizon.

Kelerot opened the hatch and blasted the energy field that kept the room from being sucked out into space and he closed the hatch immediately afterwards. Pushing the steering mechanism forward, the ship powered itself out of the prison and he brought up a star chart for the nearest and safest hyperspace route he could enter on the navigation computer. Seconds later, the ship blasted off before it could be pulled into the gravity well.

Tupper and Vuon looked at Satula, shaking their heads. They couldn't believe he would do something so stupid. They could see the gravity well absorbing the adjacent rooms within it, causing them to collapse.

Satula made a mad dash for the landing dock to get into another ship to escape but Tupper and Vuon grabbed him by the arms, holding him in place.

"Let me go! Please! I don't wanna die in here!"

"Then you should've kept your big mouth shut!" yelled Tupper.

"The Pride Troopers must know! I'm sorry! They have to know how dangerous that prisoner is. I hope word gets out to Jiren and he can put a stop to him! Now please, let me go! You'll die too if you stay here too long!"

Satula darted his eyes back and forth between the two guards and Vuon shook his head. He glanced at Tupper and gave him a grin.

"Trooper Tupper, it has been an honor serving with you these many years," Vuon said and Tupper saluted him.

"Likewise. Do you think they'll build a new prison sometime in the future?"

"Probably. Hopefully with a just and fair warden and not like that old fogey and his little snitch here," Vuon said and Satula fought back as hard as he could, struggling to free himself from their grip but Tupper channeled energy into himself and shifted into his heavier form, a rock-like mask enveloping his face and Vuon let Satula go. Tupper had Satula in a full-nelson grip while he and Vuon stared out into space.

"You think they'll still remember us after all these years?" Vuon asked and Tupper shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe," Tupper said and he sighed. "Forgive us, Lord Barbon. We should've informed you sooner."

Satula screamed as he saw the walls behind them bend and tear and both Tupper and Vuon closed their eyes. Moments later the three were pulled out into space and into the gravity well. The entire prison soon met the same fate and no one knew what had happened until it was too late to do anything. All that was left was empty space and the eerie gravity well that eventually dissipated as its energy diminished and dispersed.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – "Training begins! Fighters from all over prepare for the Tournament."**

The first day of training began for Bulla as she groggily woke up from a restless sleep. She had been too excited because this was her first tournament and she wanted to show Pan how much more she could improve with proper training rather than what they had been usually up to with sparring.

She spent so much her time drafting up a plan on what she wanted to do during her regimen that she didn't pay attention to how much time had passed by and by the time she finished drafting plans to build training drones, it was in the early hours of the morning.

Vegeta was the first to wake her up and he pulled the blanket off her, tossing it to the floor. She covered her head with her pillow and his scowl deepened.

"Out of bed, now," he ordered but she groaned in response.

"Ugh, one more hour, papa," she said through the pillow and he scoffed at her.

"Trunks is waiting for you in the gravity room. Get changed and meet him there."

She slowly sat up and looked at him with tired eyes and he stood with his arms crossed. He took a capsule out of his pocket and activated it, making a box appear.

"Your mother made you and Trunks battle uniforms to help you train with, put it on," he said and left the room, the door sliding closed behind him. Bulla adjusted the strap of her nightshirt and stood up, opening the box. She saw that there were several uniforms that Bulma designed and they resembled Vegeta's battle armor and blue one piece spandex. She smiled at the idea of dressing up like her father but she almost felt more like lying back down on the bed and falling back to sleep. She knew she would sleep plenty after today so she endured it and changed.

She tied her hair back and made her way to the gravity room and the doors slid open. Trunks was leaning against the wall while Vegeta stood by the controls.

"From today onward until the day of the Tournament, if you're not eating, sleeping, or taking care of basic needs, you will spend each day in here training and sparring with your brother using the gravity room at your leisure." Bulla and Trunks looked back at him, surprised.

"Wait, I thought we were training with you, father?" Trunks said and Vegeta gave him a look.

"I have my own training to do elsewhere," he said and Bulla looked upset.

"But papa-"

"Don't complain," Vegeta barked and she winced a bit. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't rely on me to coddle the both of you during your training. Find a method that works to your strengths. That is how we grow as a Saiyan warrior."

"Yes, papa," Bulla said, looking down. He shook his head and tilted her head back up by her chin.

"The two of you carry the pride and legacy of the Saiyan race. I will protect you and this planet from danger when its needed, but I must also count on the both of you to be strong enough to handle things when I'm not here. Learn from each other as you train and fight hard."

"Are you going to train with Goku, father?" Trunks asked.

"That is none of your concern," Vegeta said and he left the room. Trunks and Bulla glanced at each other and he walked over to the gravity controls.

"Father and I usually train at 150 times. I think you're strong enough to handle that much," he said and Bulla's eyes widened a bit.

"Uh, yeah! Yeah, I'm ready for that, bring it on!" she said nervously and Trunks smirked as he switched the device on and turned the dial to 150g on the display.

Bulla almost fell face first on the floor as the intense gravity began to affect the room. She had mentally prepared herself for the shock of the increased gravity, but her years of developing her physical strength and showing displays of lifting heavy objects meant that she could at least handle intense gravity training now. This sensation was different for her as she held herself up, clenching her fists as she did it and grunted as her upper body hunched forward. Trunks casually walked over to her since he had been accustomed to the gravity for years.

"I was like that the first time I trained with father years ago," he said. "You should adjust quickly."

"Dammit," Bulla grunted and she channeled energy to transform. As a Super Saiyan, she felt her mobility come back and she bounded around the room, rapidly throwing punches and kicks while moving and flipping around inside. She took to the air and did a few combo moves and landed back down on the floor. Trunks was impressed at the amount of speed she was displaying during her state and he whistled her over.

"What's up?" she asked.

"We need to set ourselves some ground rules for our training while we're in here. First and foremost, no transformation." Bulla pouted, crossing her arms.

"Why not? I can move a lot easier as a Super Saiyan than if I wasn't," she protested and Trunks smiled, shaking his head.

"You'll wear yourself out a lot faster doing that. You might enjoy the power boost, but one thing I learned from father is how much strain it puts on your body and stamina if you do it for too long. You have to train your body naturally to handle the increased boost from being a Super Saiyan, otherwise you won't be able to build yourself up to ascend to higher levels."

Trunks flared up his energy and transformed in front of her. Her eyes widened as she saw her brother's aura spark with electricity and his hair looked sharper and more refined.

"That's so cool! Super Saiyan 2, right? I've been trying to get that form but I'm still having trouble reaching it," Bulla said and Trunks powered back down to his base form. She did the same and felt the pressure of the gravity wear her down again.

"I'll give you until sundown to adjust to the room. You should have enough strength to do so. Keep doing laps inside the room here," Trunks said and he dropped down to the floor to do push up exercises.

Bulla slowly began taking steps forward as she lifted each leg to bring it in front of the other, grunting as she did so. The sweat was already dripping from her head and they hit the floor hard. She walked until she had managed a full lap around, starting from the door and she paused, leaning forward. She was practically using every muscle in her body to keep herself up and had to focus her energy to maintain her strength and continue moving. She breathed hard as she stared at Trunks and grunted in frustration. _I'll catch up to you in no time, brother._

When she took the next few steps into a new lap, her foot caught hold the droplets of sweat that was still on the floor and she slipped, falling backwards on her rear. The fall was a lot more intense than she realized and she breathed heavily, closing her eyes and seething through her teeth at the amount of pain that shot up through her from the impact. She rolled over to her side and was able to get herself to at least her hands and knees and she took a while to get back to her feet. She noticed several wet patches from all the sweat that dripped off her and had to adjust her movement to avoid slipping and falling again.

Trunks was tempted to help her but reminded himself that if Vegeta saw this he'd probably scold him. Since she hasn't asked for help he felt she was determined enough to do this on her own.

A few hours had passed and she walked ten laps, passing the door. She slipped a couple of times as she walked around the room but got right back up again to continue. She stopped after she reached the door and leaned against the wall with her hand, her legs shaking. Trunks was so preoccupied with his own exercises that he practiced often with Vegeta that he finally paused and saw that she was about ready to collapse on the floor. He rushed over to catch her as she did and held her up.

"Easy, I got ya," he said and she smiled, looking up at him. Her bangs were matted to her face from all the sweat she had produced and her mouth and lips were dry.

"I think I can still keep going, brother," she said and Trunks eased her down onto the floor so she could sit down. He walked over and shut the machine off, the gravity returning to normal.

"Let's break for lunch. Ten laps for your first time is really impressive."

"Thanks, brother. I thought I could handle this much right away but I still have a long way to go," she said and Trunks smiled down at her.

"It took me until the end of the week to finally get a handle on it. I believe you have the potential to do it sooner. Once you've mastered this much we can properly start fighting each other."

She smiled up at him weakly. "I hope so too."

They both broke for lunch and ate. Bulla felt much better after moving around and regaining her energy that she felt she was ready to tackle the intense gravity once more for the rest of the afternoon. She completed another ten laps and her mobility had progressed to where she wasn't stomping with each foot on the floor and she could walk around the room normally.

Within the next three days, Bulla was able to grow more comfortable with the gravity. She could run around the room now and move more nimbly. By the end of the week, she flew around the room as though there was no gravity. At that point, Trunks got into a fighting position.

"Good, you adjusted well. Come at me when you're ready," he said and Bulla took a stance that was much like Vegeta's. The two charged forth and flew around the room at high speed intervals, disappearing and reappearing to trade blows, which Bulla had a bit of a hard time to block and dodge since Trunks was more experienced in fighting under elevated gravity. She couldn't keep up with his speed and was knocked down to the floor with a strike to her back.

"C'mon sis, keep up," he said and she breathed a sigh, standing back up on her feet. She fired off a few energy blasts that were deflected, and he retaliated with a few of his own, which forced her to dodge, flipping around the room and moving at high speed bursts to avoid them.

"Don't forget to focus on defense as well as evasion!" Trunks cried out and he moved quickly to appear behind her and blast her back with another energy ball that sent her flying forward toward the wall. She rolled herself off the energy ball and caught it with her hand mid-air, throwing it back at him. She landed on the floor and sent an energy beam in his direction, which he deflected with the back of his hand.

Trunks moved swiftly, causing Bulla to search his energy since he was moving at high speed and she narrowly caught his fist which grazed her face and knocked her to the floor. She held her face and winced, breathing heavily.

"You've shown improvement as of late. All those sparring sessions with Pan must be paying off," Trunks said, extending his hand to help her back up on her feet. She glared at him and launched with a few kicks which were blocked and he cleared some distance from her. She took up another fighting stance and stared at him.

 _I want to be strong enough to make quick work out of everyone at the Tournament. I didn't get inspired to start fighting if it weren't for Pan,_ she thought to herself and could feel the stuffiness of the air making it hard to breathe sometimes the more time spent here. But she took one of her father's lessons to heart about not letting the environment get the better of her but to use it to her advantage.

They fought some more until Trunks was able to connect with a punch that was hard enough to knock her out and he was worried he had used too much force. He checked on her and was relieved she was durable enough to take those heavy hits. He shut the gravity off and picked her up to bring her to her bedroom.

When she woke up, she immediately threw a couple of punches that connected with the air, but then realized she was in her bed and Trunks was leaning up against the wall beside the door. He didn't often visit Bulla's room and noticed that there were a lot of discarded gadgets and inventions strewn along the floor. He spotted a sheet covering something in the corner and went to pull it off.

"Don't touch that!" Bulla cried out, reaching out with a hand to stop her brother.

"Why?"

"It's an unfinished project," she said and jumped out of bed to stand in between Trunks and the sheet. He shrugged his shoulders and turned around.

"Go wash up before dinner, then take it easy the rest of the night. You'll need it," he said, opening the door.

"I will," she called back, looking at the sheet. When the door closed behind him, she breathed a sigh and pulled the sheet off, revealing the chassis of a humanoid robot that was about Bulla's height.

"I didn't want to show you off until you were finished," she said, smiling.

She spent months building a prototype training robot for herself, in hopes that it would help speed up her training. While she wasn't working on schoolwork or sparring with Pan, she spent hours tinkering with the chassis, assembling it all together. She was in the end stages of development and only needed a few more parts and computers in the laboratory to finish. She made sure her parents didn't find out about this and sometimes the fiery temper she had inherited from them would manifest itself when she harshly defended her secret from scrutiny. She'd occasionally lose her cool under extreme stress but knew that when she would defy her father, one look from him would put her in her place. He did remind her that despite her temper he admired that she showed the determination and pride of a Saiyan.

She covered the chassis back up under the sheet and undressed in the bathroom, drawing hot water for a bath to relax her muscles and get cleaned up from all the sweat and grime from her training. She then got dressed in a t-shirt and boxer shorts, draping her bathrobe over her as she went to eat dinner and retreated back to her room for some reading before she went to sleep.

Later that night, she woke up. She sighed, trying to force herself back to sleep, but all she could think of at the moment was the robot that she was working on. She sat up and pulled out her laptop computer from her dresser drawer and switched it on. She pored over some programming code she was working on related to the robot's AI script and sighed in frustration.

"I'm getting nowhere with this, I need more data to work with," she said to herself, blowing a strand of hair away from her face. "Mom's computer has to have something useful if I'm going to finish this anytime soon."

She crept down the hall to the main lab where Bulma had kept her most important files stored on the lab's computer hard drive. She snuck to the side of the main door, keeping an eye out for signs of anyone nearby and pressed a button, opening her way inside.

She was surprised to see that the lights were on and her grandfather, Dr. Briefs was inside working on the very computer she needed access to. A lone cigarette hung from the corner of his mouth as he was typing on the keyboard, ignoring the long strand of ash that fell from the cigarette onto his lap. By the looks of several stains on his pants, Bulla could tell that he often wasn't paying much attention to his smoking.

He spotted Bulla from the corner of his eye and a grin appeared on his face.

"Ah, Bulla, what brings you here at this hour?" he asked.

"I can't sleep," she said, leaning against the wall opposite the computer. She crossed her arms and breathed a heavy sigh. She started getting curious about her grandfather's work and walked around him to look over his shoulder at the monitor.

"Woah," she said as she saw the complexity of the computer programming he was using.

"I don't think you're ready for this advanced level of programming, are you?" he asked and Bulla shook her head.

"Are you kidding? I don't understand a quarter of this. What is this?"

"A formula your mother and I have been working on shortly after your brother was born. We hope to crack the code that will allow us to build a machine capable of sustaining an infinite engine core. It's a similar concept to the androids-"

"Like number 18?" Bulla interjected and he nodded.

"Correct. We've asked if she could help our research but she refused. It'd be simpler to retrieve all the data from Dr. Gero's laboratory but no useful data survived when the lab was destroyed other than blueprints on how to shut them off. We're basically working from scratch here."

"Have you made any progress?" she asked. Dr. Briefs looked back over the formula he wrote and sighed. He chuckled a bit and ended up deleting the whole thing. Bulla's eyes widened a bit.

"Why did you delete it?" She asked.

"Because this was pure gibberish," he replied with a smile on his face. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and put it out in his ashtray and stood up. He uncovered a series of white boards with more formulas written on them and Bulla remembered those from when she was a small child.

"These however have been more accurate to what we're researching on. I hoped that what I typed in would correlate to what I wrote here earlier but it wasn't working to my specifications."

"I want to access mom's files to access her information on robotics and Artificial Intelligence. If you've been studying these android blueprints, I know there can be something I can see that will help me finish my project."

She took the chair her grandfather was using and sat down. She clicked on a file labeled "Bulma" but it was password protected.

"Hmm," Dr. Briefs hummed as he saw the password screen. "Type 19749."

Bulla cocked an eyebrow but typed in the numbers regardless. The password was correct and the file opened.

"Wow grandpa, how did you know?" She asked.

"Because Bulma once told me that September 1, age 749 was the most important day in her life. If things hadn't happened the way they did that day, her life wouldn't have changed so much."

"What happened that day?" Bulla asked. She was getting curious. Dr. Briefs cleared his throat before he walked to the door.

"That was the day she met Goku for the first time. Good night little one, don't stay up too late," he said and left the room, the door sliding shut behind him. Bulla was a bit surprised to hear that answer, never realizing how important her father's biggest rival was to her mother. She didn't hear Bulma speak often of Goku all that much as she grew up, instead talking more about her and her brother's education, her projects, her father, visits from Whis and Lord Beerus for lunch dates (she thought Beerus looked cute and wanted to pet him on the head).

She began browsing through the folder, opening up several other folders in the process. She hastened to find her info on robotics but there wasn't a lot of files except one about an android 16. She opened it up and it brought up schematics of a skeletal blueprint with various parts that were each labeled. She smiled as she looked at the blueprints and opened up more files to expand her research. She searched for a portable hard drive and found a small one, plugging it into the computer. She figured this would be especially useful information to help complete her robot project but was having second thoughts about copying the files.

 _What am I doing? Is this right? Snooping in mom's private files? I don't want her to get angry at grandpa for telling me the password._

No. She shook her head and unplugged the hard drive, sighing.

"I should ask mom first," she said and closed all the folders, shutting the computer off. She stood up and took one last look at the computer before shutting the lights, nodding. She resolved to ask her mother about this project and was hopeful she would cooperate.

She quickly made her way back to her room and crawled back into her bed. Within seconds, she was fast asleep.

The next morning during breakfast, Bulla was thinking about how to approach her mother without giving away anything and got interrupted.

"Hey kiddo, getting another hard day's training out of the way?" she asked.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I think I'm good to increase the gravity at this point."

"Something bugging you? You're more distracted than usual," Bulma said. She'd often catch Bulla in a thinking mode and they spoke of little projects she liked to work on. She offered to help on occasion but Bulla kept insisting that she'd be able to handle those on her own.

"You ever think of building a robot like Android 18 or Android 17, mama?" Bulla asked and Bulma had to blink for a moment.

"That's an odd thing to ask about. What brought this on?"

"I couldn't sleep last night, so I ran into grandpa in the lab and he showed me the formula for the infinite engine core you guys have been working on for like forever and it made me think about those androids."

Bulma sighed. She knew this was a project that gave them both headaches as to the nature of the equation being unresolved. She felt frustrated that neither she nor her father were gaining any headway in solving the mystery behind the potential to harness unlimited inexhaustible energy and no matter how many times she's asked Android 18, the answer was always the same: She has no clue how it was made, only that they have it and she doesn't feel comfortable enough to have herself looked at. Android 17 was an entirely different matter and he flat out refused to even breach the subject. He didn't care so much about his modifications yet he knew he couldn't abandon his obligation as a wildlife ranger to put himself under a microscope. Add on to the fact he has Goten as his apprentice ranger and he had little time to cooperate on anything Capsule Corporation related.

"Do you have any research related to robots or artificial intelligence?" Bulla asked. Bulma eyed her suspiciously.

"You've never been this curious about robotics or A.I. before. Do you know something that I don't?" Bulma asked and Bulla looked back in surprise. She had many strengths but holding a good poker face wasn't one of them. She sighed and groaned a bit.

"I didn't want to tell you, but I took a peek into your computer," Bulla said and Bulma glared at her.

"Uh huh. Find anything interesting?" Bulma said, her tone like ice.

"I didn't see a whole lot, I swear! I just took a peek but felt bad about it and shut the computer off."

Bulma shook her head. "I'm going to have a word or two with your grandfather at some point," she said. She figured that Dr. Briefs had a role in this, since he's the only other person who knew the password to her encrypted files. She rubbed her temples and sighed.

"Fine, I'll let this one slide, but come to me first if you have any new ideas. I don't like you keeping secrets from me."

"I will, mama. I promise," Bulla said.

They finished breakfast and made their way to the laboratory where Bulma switched her computer on. When she got into her files, she brought up all the information about robotics that she had. She glanced over at her father, Dr. Briefs and shot him a look of disapproval but all he did was give her a friendly smile while puffing away at his cigarette.

"There, that's what I want to know more about," Bulla said, pointing to the inter-skeletal diagram of Android 16.

"Android 16? That takes me all the way back to when your brother was still an infant," Bulma said. Her eyes immediately glazed over a few pictures she had framed on her desk and one of them was of her holding Trunks when he was a few months old and she smiled a bit. She saw the picture of Vegeta holding Bulla as a baby beside it and blushed a bit, turning to Bulla.

"I think I have an idea of where this is heading, am I right?" She asked and Bulla gave her a shy smile.

"Can we? Can we rebuild him, mama?" she asked. Bulma sighed as she looked over all the files she had saved up.

"That's going to be tough. Reverse engineering everything we had on Android 16 was hard enough because we had barely any information retrieved from Dr. Gero's laboratory. Everything else had been destroyed."

"Oh," Bulla said, dejected. She took a deep breath and made her face determined.

"I still want to rebuild him, mama. I'll do whatever it takes."

Bulma looked a bit surprised at Bulla's determination but smiled regardless.

"You definitely inherited your father's sense of pride, kiddo," Bulma said and Bulla looked more closely at the computer screen. She snapped her fingers and sat up.

"I just remembered something! Wait here," Bulma said and quickly ran over to a door on the opposite side of the lab. She entered a keycode and the door unlocked.

"Come with me, I want to show you something," she said and opened the door. Bulla quickly joined her and they walked into a hallway with several units of what looked like a storage area. Bulma walked down to the end of the hall and turned left into another junction and stopped near the end. There was a larger set of drawers that were locked and Bulma put her hand against an identification panel that read her palm. When the light turned green, she pulled a lever and turned it clockwise. She pulled it outward and the drawer slid out, revealing several busted and worn out pieces scattered on the surface.

"What's this?" Bulla asked.

"What was left of Android 16," Bulma said, crossing her arms.

"Seriously?" Bulla asked, her face beaming. She felt excited that there was some hope to this project after all and she could see there was a tinge of sadness in the way Bulma looked at the broken pieces.

"You remember the story I told you about how Gohan defeated Cell and saved the world?" Bulma asked.

"Vaguely, I was still little when you told me about that. You didn't mention anything about this android before."

"Well, after Gohan defeated Cell, your grandfather and I went back to the battlefield to see if we could find any remains of Android 16 lying around. This was all we could retrieve."

Bulla saw the crushed head with what looked like either dried up oil or blood caked onto it. There were other broken pieces that looked like it made up the torso, and a large chip that looked like a processor with a red ribbon logo on it, two large R's superimposed on it. She picked it up and looked it over.

"This processor looks ancient," Bulla said and put it back down.

"It's fried, we can't access anything on it," Bulma said, leaning over the surface. She picked up the damaged head piece and frowned, turning it over. The eyes were missing, most likely having been popped out after it got crushed, and she tried to remember what those eyes looked like when she first saw Android 16, but that was so long ago. Bulla put her hand on top of the head and felt the tuft of orange-red hair, coarse and dirty to the touch.

"It's not much, but it's a start at least," Bulla said. Bulma put the head back down on the surface and closed the door.

"Are we not going to start working on it?" Bulla asked.

"Didn't your father say you had to be training? I don't want you to skip out on that and get distracted building a robot."

"I know, but I want to work on this!" Bulla cried and Bulma locked the drawer. She glanced over at Bulla, who had that same look she once had when she saw Goku doing something out of stubbornness. _Like looking at a young me in the mirror._

"I'll think about it, okay?" Bulma said as she led Bulla back out of the hallway and into the lab room. Bulla nodded and smiled.

"Okay. I can't wait to get started on this project."

"I never said I'd do it," Bulma said and Bulla smirked.

"You never said you wouldn't, either," she shot back and Bulma smiled.

"Go and train. I'll call you guys when dinner's ready later," Bulma said and Bulla nodded once more.

"Alright, see you later, mama!" she cried as she bolted out of the room. Dr. Briefs walked over beside Bulma and scratched the back of his head.

"She's a very spirited young girl, much like how you were," he said and Bulma smiled. Then she gave him a good bop on the head with her fist and glared at him, smiling. He held his head in his hands.

"You should be thankful Bulla has the good sense to keep this between us. Now I have to go change my password," she said and walked over to her computer to sit down.

When Bulla entered the gravity room, she didn't see Trunks anywhere. She sighed and looked at the time on her watch.

"Where the hell is he? He's always the first in here," she said and used the phone in the room to call his mobile.

"Hey sis, what's up?" came his voice on the other end.

"Where the hell are you?! We're supposed to be training today, remember?" she asked.

"Sorry about this sis, but I'm going to be doing the rest of my training with Goten. You have the gravity room all to yourself now. Good luck!" he said and hung up. Bulla's eyes widened and she slammed the receiver down hard, almost breaking it. She breathed a heavy sigh and walked quickly over to the control panel.

"Tch, who needs him. I can handle this myself! I've done plenty of things on my own. Let's see here," she said and she brought up pre-programmed training exercises that were designed by Vegeta (with help from Bulma of course) and she looked up one of them. When it started, the gravity machine set itself at 300 times and she felt the effects almost bring her down to the floor.

 _Crap, I didn't think to modify the program!_ She thought quickly and noticed that several panels on the walls were opening up and training drones flew outward. They locked their sensors on Bulla and began to open fire. She took a few hits from them before she began to charge her energy to dodge them as quickly as possible, but the intensity of the gravity she hadn't accustomed herself to yet were overbearing on her and she took a shot that grazed the side of her face. She cried out in pain as blood was trickling down her cheek and a look of panic was on her face. She quickly made her way to the panel but it was blocked by a couple of drones who intercepted her movements.

Her panic gave way to anger and she glared at the drones. She transformed into her Super Saiyan form and grabbed the two drones that were in front of her, throwing them towards a couple others, crashing them into each other. She darted around the room at high-speed bursts and deflected the blaster fire from the drones, redirecting them into the other open drones and destroyed them. She took to the air and nimbly moved around the laser fire and destroyed the rest of them before landing on the floor in a kneeling position on one knee. She stood up and punched the palm of her hand with her fist and breathed a sigh.

"Level one: complete," said a computer voice from the terminal and Bulla raised an eyebrow.

"That was level one? How many levels are there?"

"One hundred," the computer responded and Bulla's mouth dropped open.

"I guess this would be good training for the tournament," she said. _Hopefully, I can reach Super Saiyan 2 before then. I gotta show Pan who's the strongest between us._

 **Pan's training…**

Videl gathered a few things and placed them in Pan's bag. She had prepared herself mentally for the day Pan would head off to train with her grandfather and Uub at his village. She could see that Pan looked a little nervous and was playing around a bit with her dinner and she walked over to her, placing her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"Nervous?" she asked.

"A bit, yeah," Pan said.

"You're not worried about getting homesick, are you?" Videl asked and Gohan looked up from his food. He swallowed his mouthful and Pan shook her head.

"You're going to be fine, Pan. You're in good hands with father, trust me," Gohan said and Pan smiled a bit.

"I guess I'm also excited that I get to spend a lot more time with grandpa than usual. I'm so used to training with Bulla or Piccolo that this is going to feel a bit strange. I don't know what kind of training he'll give me while I'm there so I guess that makes me feel more excited than nervous."

A few minutes later, Pan still looked at her food and played around with it with her chopsticks. Videl glanced back and forth between her and Gohan and motioned him to say something, but his eyes were glued to his notes and organizer that she had to nudge him with an elbow to grab his attention.

"Pan, you're not eating," Gohan stated and Pan looked up at him, surprised.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it's delicious."

"Are you sure? You haven't eaten a bite of it yet," said Videl as she ate her curry. She had become quite adept at making Chichi's recipes from the cookbook she had published and Gohan was pleased that Videl had been able to replicate his mother's world-famous curry recipe without a hitch. He had hoped Pan would enjoy it too, but the constant distracted look on her face alluded to her earlier reservation.

"Are you sure you're okay to leave tomorrow and train with father?" Gohan asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. I guess I'm not that hungry," she told him. Her thoughts drifted back to seeing Goku again, then she blushed when she started thinking about seeing Uub and spending more time with him. There have been brief moments where she looked at Uub for a bit longer than she usually did and realized how cute he actually was and that brought a smile to her face. She felt that she was starting to like him a lot more and training with him was something she began to anticipate eagerly. Everyone was impressed by her growth and potential and both she and Gohan were hopeful she could reach that level of Super Saiyan she had been dreaming of. She felt she was close and hoped that this rigorous training for the next few months would finally break that limit.

Videl smiled as she noticed Pan blushing and she had some idea of what that might mean. But she did want Pan to eat and rest up for her trip tomorrow.

"I know you've got a lot on your mind, Pan, but please eat your dinner before it gets cold," Videl said and Pan nodded, shoveling the food in her mouth. She did still have a Saiyan's appetite, even though she couldn't stuff as much as her father could.

After a nice hot bath, she watched her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her hair. She could see how long it had gotten, growing past her shoulders and she thought it might not be a bad idea to get a haircut so it wouldn't get in the way of her training. She thought of calling Bulla and asking how her training was going but looking at the time she realized that she might already be asleep. It started to ring and Pan saw that it was Bulla's number calling and she giggled.

"Hey," she said, answering the phone. "I was thinking of calling you just now."

"You wouldn't believe the day I've had," she said. Her tone implied that she was either happy or maybe she was terribly upset. It was subtle but Pan could always tell when Bulla was upset about something even when she expressed joy.

"I can't stop thinking about training with grandpa and Uub tomorrow," Pan said.

"You haven't started?! It's been almost a month!" Bulla cried and Pan winced a bit.

"I'm sorry! I've been busy with schoolwork and house chores and grandma keeps making me help her practice housewife work. Ugh, it gets annoying, not to mention really boring after a while."

"Yeah. Papa insisted that every day I spend is training, eating, and sleeping. But my idiot older brother decides to take off to train with your uncle and it makes me so mad that he'd ditch me like that!"

Pan frowned. "Did he have a good reason?"

"As if I'd know that! He probably thinks I'm holding him back and left at the first opportunity. If I face him in the tournament I'll kick his butt and knock him out of the ring!"

Pan laughed a bit. "You're pretty fired up."

"Yeah, I know. I just discovered papa's training program. 100 levels of battle simulations with drones and gravity modifications that I can use for the rest of the time until the day of the Tournament. I'm going to be so strong when that day comes that I know I'll have reached Super Saiyan 2! How about you? Think you'll finally transform?"

Pan sighed. "I'm starting to think I might not, but I keep trying. I've been trying every night but I don't know what more I need to break through. I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

"I wish I knew myself. It pretty much happened naturally for me like it did with my brother. Maybe it's because your mom's human and your dad's only half-Saiyan that it might not happen at all?" Pan scoffed at the idea and pouted.

"I will transform, I know I will!" Pan cried out but had to calm her voice down so she wouldn't draw attention from her parents.

"Sorry, I gotta keep my voice down," she said, chuckling.

"Mama has this old robot stored in her lab," Bulla said, changing the subject.

"A robot? Cool!" Pan cried out, smiling.

"I know! I want to rebuild it but mama doesn't seem to want to. There's not a lot of data on him and I've been working on an A.I. script but I haven't had much success with it."

"A.I.?" Pan asked.

"Artificial Intelligence," Bulla said. "That guy that made 17 and 18 all those years ago apparently was a mad genius with that technology, even inventing an infinite engine that never runs out of energy. Mama and grandpa want to replicate the formula but haven't had much luck."

Pan knew Bulla had a lot of smarts, much more than she ever could. But most of those things related to science go over her head sometimes and she doesn't have much she could really say about it, despite being the daughter of a world renowned scholar like Gohan. She nodded as Bulla talked about the androids and thought back to some of the times she had played with Marron at her place while Gohan and Videl socialized with 18 and Krillin.

"I hope I get to see this new robot at the Tournament if you'll let it go with you, Bulla," Pan said, feeling eager to see what new creation she'll come up with.

"That's if mama will help me rebuild it though. She hasn't given me an answer on that yet, but I'm hopeful she'll consider it."

"Yeah," Pan said, then she breathed a small sigh. She lowered the phone from her ear for a moment, looking down at it, frowning.

"Pan? You still there?" Bulla could be heard asking on the other end. Pan sighed again and brought it back to her ear.

"You realize that this will be the last time we get to talk to each other until the day of the tournament, right? I'm leaving tomorrow to go train with Uub and grandpa and I won't be able to communicate with anyone during that time. I made a promise to mom and dad that I wouldn't while I'm committed to this."

"I know, this will be the same for me. But I know one thing's for sure. We'll both train hard and give it our best at the Tournament and show everyone how much stronger we've got."

Pan smiled, closing her eyes. She was happy to have a friend like Bulla: someone strong, brave, and upbeat like herself. She'd have to figure out something to do with her after the Tournament is over but for now she would need to focus on the next day.

"I guess we should get some sleep then," Pan said. She could hear Bulla yawning heavily on the other end and she giggled a bit.

"You sound exhausted," she said.

"Ugh, I couldn't sleep last night and I was overthinking too much about my project. I hope I don't oversleep and miss my training. Good night, Pan."

"Good night, Bulla," Pan said and they both hung up. Pan turned off the lamp to her bedroom and was asleep within minutes.

Pan felt more energetic as her excitement grew when she woke up the next morning. She hastily ate breakfast and got ready, donning her usual outfit. She loved the bandana she wore often on her head, the color reminding her of the gi her father once wore as well as her grandfather. She still missed seeing Gohan wear his old orange and blue gi and hoped she could have some time to spar with him but knew that her training time was going to spent with Goku and Uub. She thought for a moment about the time she'd spend training with Uub and she blushed a bit, smiling. She didn't realize she was blushing but she couldn't help but smile every time she got to see him and spar with him.

"I got everything packed and ready for you, Pan," Videl called out to her from the kitchen as she was putting everything away.

"Thanks mama!" Pan cried out and slung the heavy backpack on her shoulders. She took a deep breath and began walking out of the house.

"Mom, dad, I'm heading off now!" Pan cried out. Gohan stood up from his seat at the dining table and placed his hand on her head.

"Train hard, Pan," he told her.

"I will," she nodded. Videl quickly walked over and gave her a tight hug. Pan's face felt awkward as she felt a bit embarrassed from this.

"Mom, I'm only going to be away for a short while. You'll see me again at the tournament," she told her.

"I know, but your mama's still going to worry a lot about you. Please be safe out there," she said and Pan rolled her eyes.

"Grandpa and Uub are really good fighters, mama. I trust them."

When Videl let go, Pan quickly waved goodbye to them and was out the door. She powered up and took to the air and flew to Uub's home.

As she approached the island, she caught Goku and Uub sparing in mid-air, trading blows one after another and blocking each other's punches and kicks. Uub adjusted well to Goku's fighting style and was able to land a few counter blows that connected with Goku's stomach, sending him flying back. Goku smiled and chuckled a bit and launched a few energy attacks as a feint before he made a high speed burst to reappear behind Uub and give him a chop on the back of the head. Uub almost lost consciousness from the blow but shook it off, holding the back of his head.

"Wow, I'm impressed how quickly you've improved, Uub. But you're still lettin' your energy leak out while you're moving. You can't maximize your output if you're not internalizing your energy completely," Goku said and Uub powered back down. He was a bit out of breath since they were sparring before dawn.

"Sorry, master," Uub said and the two flew down to the ground. Pan waited a moment before she continued onward, sensing that their energy back to normal.

"It takes a while to practice mastering your energy control. When you're able to do it fully, you can fight at full strength without exhausting yourself so quickly. I think if we start working more often on your stamina, you can expect to see better results."

"Yes, master," Uub said, bowing at him.

"Grandpa!" Pan called out as she came into view. Goku and Uub turned to face her and he smiled, waving at her. Uub had a smile of his own as he saw her come down to land in front of them.

"Ah! Good timing. It's great to see you, Pan," Goku said and Pan detached her backpack, letting it slide off her to the ground. She rushed to jump into his arms and gave him a hug. She turned to Uub and shyly waved at him. He returned the wave as well and they both looked at each other awkwardly for a moment before Goku broke the silence.

"Whew! All that sparring sure builds up an appetite! Pretty sure your mama's got breakfast ready!" He cried out and Uub didn't realize it himself until his own stomach began growling. He chuckled a bit himself and waved over to Pan. She grabbed her pack and rushed over to join up with them as they walked into Uub's village. The villagers all greeted them openly and the two elderly women of the village both looked at Uub, then at Pan and one nudged the other.

"Ah! Uub! I see you've brought your girlfriend with you this time!" she said and Pan's jaw dropped, her face turning beet red. Uub looked back at Pan, then at the old women and waved his hands in front of him.

"We're not dating! Pan's my friend who's come here to help me train for the tournament!" Uub nervously said and Pan averted her eyes to quickly walk past those two old women to join up with Goku.

"A strapping, young, handsome person like yourself should get a wife that will bear you many children, Uub!" said the other old woman and Uub looked back in panic, blushing heavily.

"Please stop saying things like that! I-I-I just want to p-protect the village and keep the w-world safe! I can't be married at my age!" He cried out and decided to avoid embarrassing himself in front of them any further as he rushed back to join Goku and Pan.

"Hey mom, we're back," Uub said and Pinappa stiffly stood up to greet her son. Uub's siblings helped her to her feet and she coughed into her hand before she walked over to greet him.

"Breakfast is almost ready, baboo. Go freshen up," she said. Uub nodded and retreated into the hut. She looked up at Goku and sighed. Pan shyly kept her distance but she looked on with a bit of concern on her face.

"Are you okay, miss?" Pan asked.

"Ah, I should introduce you. This is my granddaughter, Pan, she's come here to train with Uub for the tournament," Goku said and Pinappa gave her a warm smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Pan. Don't worry about me, I overworked myself a bit," she said and limped a bit to her large pot that's placed over the open flame.

"I can get you some senzu beans if you need them," Pan said and Pinappa waved her off.

"Don't you be giving me none of those magic healing trinkets. My boys will never learn the value of hard work if instant cures and miracles have to fix everything," she said and checked on her cooking. Pan slung the backpack down beside her and rushed over to her side.

"Is there anything I can do to help you, miss?" she asked. Pinappa chuckled a bit and smiled down at her.

"Such a polite child, you are. Yes you can. Help the boys gather the bowls and utensils for me, would you?" she said and Pan nodded, rushing in with Uub's siblings to retrieve everything. She looked up at Goku, sighing. Goku could tell there was something far more than she was letting on.

"You can't tell Uub, no matter what, Goku," she said. Goku's eyes widened.

"I know of a way to fix this. It might take me up to a day or so but I can help you feel better again," he said and Pinappa stared at him.

"I know of those Dragonballs. The answer's no, I don't want some Dragon fixing me. I've heard so many things about what has happened over the years and how people suddenly were dead and brought back to life. One of the first things I taught my boys as they grew up was never to go the quick and easy route to solve your problems. If I broke my own rules, I would've had the Dragon bring my Manago back."

Goku looked at her and wanted to protest but he nodded. "I won't tell him, I promise."

Pinappa smiled and finished adding the final touches to her cooking with some herbs and spices. Pan, Uub, and his brothers Coco and Natta emerged back again ready to eat and they all sat down. Pan sat by herself, watching the others eat while she stole a few glances at Uub, then turned away when he looked back at her, confused.

"So what will you teach me first, Grandpa?" Pan asked, turning to Goku as he had his mouth full of food. He was about to speak but Pinappa shot him a reminder about his manners before she cleared her throat and coughed at the same time. He swallowed first before he spoke again.

"Well, there's not a whole lot that you haven't already learned, Pan. I want you to focus on building up your strength and weighted clothing should help you out with that. I had Piccolo make some for you."

"Wait, you're not going to teach me how to become a Super Saiyan?" she asked and Goku laughed a bit.

"You don't need to try so hard, Pan." Goku said and Pan looked back, confused then annoyed.

"That's not an answer I was hoping to hear," she said, crossing her arms.

"What I'm sayin' is that you don't need to be a Super Saiyan. Just focus on building up your base strength and energy control. By doing that, you won't need all that extra power. What good is all that going to do to you if don't have the strength and stamina to endure it? It takes a long time to train yourself to maintain a Super Saiyan form. I know it took me years before I could fully master it. Besides, your papa doesn't need to be a Super Saiyan, he's strong on his own without it."

"I guess so. But I want to catch up with Bulla and fight evenly against her. If I can't become a Super Saiyan by the tournament, I won't be able to beat her," she said, looking pleadingly at him.

Goku paused for a moment, looking at his granddaughter. She had a point, but it brought back memories of when he was her age and training so long ago under the Turtle Hermit. He wanted to pass on those teachings to both her and Uub and got up to sit beside her.

"Pan, fighting in the tournament isn't always about winning some grand prize. You're always going to come across strong fighters, some who are stronger than you are. The tournament is about proving how much stronger you are compared to what you were then. How much you've grown as a fighter and how much you still need to learn and explore as you grow older. I learned that myself a lot as I was growing up. I didn't win the first two tournaments I fought in, but I loved fighting everyone there regardless. It's all about having a good time, not winning some championship."

Pan stood up, staring down at him. Her anger began to rise. "Are you going to teach me Super Saiyan or not, Grandpa?!" she yelled at him and all eyes were on her now.

Goku rose and looked down at her for a moment. He began to walk away.

"If that's all you've come here to do, Pan, then I can't teach you anything and I'd be wasting your time. I'm sorry," he said. Pan blushed as she realized what she had just said and sighed.

"Grandpa, I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to yell at you like that!" she cried out, tearing up. Goku instead just smiled and waved it off.

"It's okay. Let's finish breakfast and get you both started on your training," he said and quietly ate his fill, which was still quite the large portion. Pinappa and her boys finished afterwards and Uub got up to stretch. Pan walked over to Pinappa.

"I'll help clean up," she said and Pinappa put her hand up.

"No need, little one, I'll have the boys help me. Go and train with Uub and Goku," she said and placed her hand on Pan's cheek, smiling down at her. Pan grinned nervously at the gesture and it reminded her of her mother often.

"I can tell you've taken a liking to my boy," she said and Pan's eyes widened.

"I-I, um," she began but Pinappa laughed a bit, hacking afterwards. Pan rushed to rub her back but she shook her head.

"I can see a great amount of gentleness in your heart, Pan. In time, I believe you and Uub should make for a strong couple with a strong family of your own," she told her and Pan blushed heavily.

"Me? I can't imagine getting married, I'm still way too young," she said but didn't dismiss the fact that she could see Uub as someone who can be more than just a friend to her and hid her face in embarrassment.

"I had that same look when I first met Manago," Pinappa laughed. She nudged her forward. "Go and do your training but be back by sundown."

"Okay!" Pan bowed at her and caught up to Goku and Uub. When they flew to a separate island, Goku stood before the two with his arms crossed. He remembered something and took a capsule out of his pocket and activated it, throwing it to the ground. The smoke cleared up to reveal a case which contained training equipment for Pan and Uub and brought out the uniform Piccolo had custom-made for her.

"Here, go change into this and come back, then we can start," Goku said and Pan nodded. She grabbed the gi and realized how heavy it was, taking some effort to pull it up out of the case.

"Seriously? I'm wearing something this heavy?" She cried out in shock as she held it in front of her.

"You can't get stronger if you can't work out your muscles effectively. I imagine Bulla is training under a lot of gravity at her place, right?" Goku said and Pan nodded. She quickly rushed over to the dense foliage in the background and looked around.

"No peeking you two, got it?" She cried out and both Uub and Goku stared back, surprised. They turned around to look the other way as Pan slipped out of her regular clothes to put on a gi that was just like Piccolo's and she smiled as she looked down at it. She always loved Piccolo's visits and often wished she could wear an outfit that was like his and was glad to feel the fabric on her for once. She didn't know what kind of material it was, but she felt the weight of it push down on her body and she slowly walked back to the two.

"So what do I need to do first, grandpa?" she asked.

"Hmm," Goku said, hand to his chin. He didn't think much past this point but snapped his fingers.

"I know! How about you go help out around Uub's village until you get comfortable wearing that? Then you can start training with Uub properly!"

Pan looked down and pulled at the fabric. "Are you kidding me?!"

"It's like Uub's mama always said: 'You can't learn the value of hard work if everythin' is so easy for ya!' or something like that," he said and Pan gave him a wry grin. She crossed her arms and stared at him, then at Uub.

"Fine but promise me you'll teach me how to transform into a Super Saiyan properly when the time comes," Pan told him.

Goku chuckled a bit. "Alright alright, I promise. Uub, I've got something for you as well." He pulled out a large turtle shell with shoulder straps attached to it.

"Put this on your shoulders," Goku said and Uub went to pick up the carapace and found it weighed a great deal.

"Since I want you two to be proud students of the Turtle Hermit school, weighted training gear will help you both out a lot as you go help out around the village for the next month."

"Huh?" Uub said, and he struggled to slip the carapace onto his back and shoulders. There were extra clips along the front to secure it in place and he adjusted the straps as needed and the turtle shell rested snugly on him now. He almost lost his footing and fell backwards but steadied himself as he felt the weight press down on him. He eyed it nervously.

"Master, aren't we going to resume training?" Uub asked but Goku shook his head.

"Nope! I've got an old friend to visit, which was why I decided you two should go back to basics and train your bodies up to become much stronger for the tournament. When I come back, I expect you two to be way stronger than you are now. I promised myself that we'd have a proper fight at some point, Uub, and after the tournament's over we'll have that re-match."

Before Uub could say anything, Goku waved goodbye at the both of them and put two fingers to his forehead. After he focused his energy for a moment, he vanished in front of the two. Uub and Pan looked at each other for a moment, blushing a bit, then they slowly took to the air.

"Flying's going to be really difficult in these," Pan told him.

"But if master Goku said this will make us even stronger, then I will work even harder to make him proud," Uub said and they both powered up to fly back to his island.

 **A long awaited reunion…**

Goku reappeared on a distant planet that was light years away from Earth. He could see that there were significant changes to the landscape as there were a couple more capsule buildings, and acres of fields being tended by a lone figure wearing a yellow toque on his head while riding a tractor. He turned and saw him and stopped, climbing out. He stretched out his back and walked over to greet him.

"Now there's a face I haven't seen in a while. Goku, was it?" he said.

"Yo," he replied. "You're…um…lemonade, right?"

"Lemo, Goku," he said, frowning. He stretched his arms and legs again before returning to his tractor.

"Can't keep my work waiting for me. If you're looking for Broly, he's around somewhere. But I'd keep my eyes peeled for his sons if I were you," he said before he resumed his field work. Goku raised an eyebrow, then his focus shifted to the foliage not too from his right as a figure darted from the shadows running at him full speed. He vanished and reappeared above to hit him with a chop. Goku blocked and went for a counter but the youth dodged it and caught him with a leg sweep that tripped him up and he fell to the ground. Goku rolled out of the way of a few more kicks and nipped back up to his feet, taking up a fighting stance. A second youth appeared above and fired an energy blast straight down at him and Goku powered up to deflect the blast away, redirecting it to the sky. The two looked identical in facial features with light green skin, snow white hair, and lavender colored eyes. The slimmer of the two had his wrists and ankles taped up wearing ripped shorts and a necklace of fangs and claws. His hair was shaped like a mohawk while his twin brother had longer hair tied back with a black ribbon. The twin wore white gi pants with a black belt around his waist with a hide of green fur on his shoulders that Goku remembered Broly used to wear around his waist like a pelt. The kid with a mohawk also had a similar green fur pelt tied around his waist. They both rushed at Goku and he hastily blocked their shots as he dodged his way around the two, waiting for an opening. He felt that the long-haired one's strikes were heavier than the one with the mohawk, as the latter came at him with rapid-fire fists that connected more often but didn't carry as much impact, yet over time they were eventually wearing him down a bit. Goku gained some distance away from the two and assumed a fighting stance once more. The two stopped and the mohawk squatted down, glaring at him. The long-haired one stood with a fighting stance of his as well.

"I don't get a bad vibe out of this guy, Choi," said Bok, the twin with long hair and he relaxed his stance.

"Yeah, he's got a good fighting sense about him. But popping out of nowhere on our planet is a recipe for disaster if you think you're going to try anything funny with us," Choi noted and Goku chuckled.

"Hey, when you two are done fighting him, go and escort him to your dad! He's here to see him!" Lemo called out from his tractor and they both got a good look at Goku.

"You're here to see dad? What for?" Choi asked, walking circles around Goku with his hands behind his hips. He poked him a couple of times in the arm to test his muscular structure and Bok kept shooting him a look to tell him to stop but Choi ignored him.

"Uh, don't mind my brother, its our first time seeing a visitor in months," Bok said and recounted how they received periodic visits from Bulma and Jaco the patrolman on separate occasions, the former to visit Cheelai, their mother, and the latter to get an update on Cheelai's behavior, reminding her that he still has a record of her on file to make sure she doesn't get herself in any trouble and kept scolding Choi for stealing something from his ship. Goku got a feel of the planet's environment, an outer rim planet named Bloss that was located within the East quadrant of the universe, a section that was unoccupied by the Freeza Force and out of the reach of warring guilds. It was the ideal world Lemo and Cheelai chose to start their lives with Broly and both he and Cheelai eventually fell for each other and raised a family of their own with three children, one of which was still in the house with their mother.

Goku could sense that Broly was nearby and he began flying to his location. Bok and Choi joined up with him and Choi was being a bit cocky as he flew, showing off how he could fly backwards with his hands behind his head and he studied Goku again.

"Hey, I remember you now, you were here a long time ago, weren't you?" Choi finally recognized that Goku wore the same colored gi the first time he showed up to see Broly and both the twins were almost four at the time while Cheelai was pregnant with her third child. Goku got a vibe off Choi that reminded him a lot of Vegeta and he grinned, staring ahead to see where Broly was located and he spotted him sitting on top of a large rock with his eyes closed, seated cross-legged with one hand on top of the other, meditating. When Goku landed in front of him, Broly opened his eyes and a grin appeared on his face.

"Kakarot, I was not expecting your arrival," he said and jumped down from the rock to greet him with a handshake. Goku nodded enthusiastically and glanced at the twins.

"Your sons are remarkable fighters for their age, I'm impressed they were able to give me a good workout as soon as I got here!"

"They insist on training and fighting each day to, er, how to say this, alleviate boredom," Broly told him and Choi smirked at Goku, then at Bok.

"Dad, Lemo wanted to remind you that dinner's about to start in less than an hour," Bok informed him and Broly walked over to pat his son's head. Choi looked at his brother enviously but kept his composure.

"Thank you. Go and aid your uncle," he told the twins and Choi rolled his eyes before getting a look from Bok. He waved at Goku while Choi was already in the air making his way back and Broly crossed his arms.

"What brings you all the way here?" he asked and Goku pointed back at the twins.

"How about you register them for the World Martial Arts Tournament coming up on Earth in a few months?" Goku asked and Broly's eyes widened a bit.

"A Tournament? I'm unfamiliar with that," he said and Goku grinned with his determined face.

"The World Martial Arts Tournament is a competition with the world's best fighters. We gather together every few years and compete to become the champion of the world. But mostly I do it because I get to fight a lot of different people who are all really good and strong. My student Uub is participating this year and I believe those two boys there will be a great challenge for him."

Broly pondered this a moment. "I am unsure whether Cheelai would approve of this. Are there restrictions to this tournament?"

"I'll fill you all in at your house when we have dinner. Your wife must be a really good cook," he said and Broly smiled, shaking his head.

"Lemo is the one who does our cooking. He has been helpful in raising Bok and Choi and takes care of us. Cheelai says he is like a brother and the boys have called him Uncle Lemo but I do not see the family resemblance."

Goku laughed. "My granddaughter calls my friend Piccolo uncle too, so I get what you mean. I can't wait to see what Lemo'll make tonight, the thought of what he'd come up with makes my mouth water!"

"I feel the same way," Broly said and the two made their way back to Broly's house.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – "Escape from the Pride Troopers! Kelerot's secret delving technique."**

 **Beerus's homeworld…**

Beerus wore a predatory grin as he moved around, impressed by how improved Vegeta's ability to dodge his strikes have become.

Vegeta fought in his Super Saiyan Blue form, spiked blue hair blowing against the breeze as he flew straight at Beerus, dodging at high speed at the last moment before reappearing behind him for a blow to his back, which the Destroyer caught with his hand. He threw Vegeta to the air and moved to pursue him, using hi-speed bursts to reappear behind him and attempt to knock him down to the ground. Vegeta managed to block it with his forearms and flipped back to try and land a heavy kick to Beerus's head, which was blocked as well. Beerus grabbed Vegeta's ankle but he spun around and was able to connect with a kick to the side of Beerus's head, sending him flying forward towards the structure up ahead. Beerus stopped himself mid-air and responded with a few energy blasts in succession, which Vegeta dodged to avoid some and deflected the others elsewhere.

Whis took a sip from a cup of tea and stuffed a couple of tea biscuits in his mouth, gifts from Bulma's mother that he picked up for himself the last time he visited Earth to dine with Bulma. He remarked on the significant improvement in Vegeta's movements while sparring with Beerus; fewer mistakes were made and Vegeta adjusted to Beerus's movements with more precision.

Vegeta flew in and fired a rapid Galick Gun at Beerus as he was on his way to engage him again and Beerus blocked the beam with one outstretched hand and felt around for where Vegeta would reappear since he knew that it was a diversionary tactic and Vegeta's fist narrowly grazed his face when he came in out of reach of his blind spot. He had been able to successfully cut the Destroyer, drawing a trickle of blood. Beerus scowled at Vegeta and his face darkened, a dangerous hue of purple energy swirling around him as he glared at him.

Vegeta knew through each sparring session when Beerus wanted to elevate the intensity of the fight. He knew Goku wasn't always going to be a reliable training partner since his decision to train with Uub after the last World Martial Arts Tournament they participated in.

He adjusted very well to his new blue form and utilized it more effectively without causing a decrease in his stamina. He knew that this was going to be needed again since Beerus looked more serious now.

He focused his divine energy and cried out, the color in his hair darkening a bit and his aura shone more brilliantly. Beerus took note of this and smiled a bit.

"Is this an indication that you're getting serious, Saiyan?" Beerus asked, yet Vegeta said nothing. He got into his fighting position and he vanished in front of Beerus. Beerus did so as well, and they engaged in high-speed combat throughout the planet, blocking each other's punches and kicks. Neither seemed to gain the upper hand and this brought a huge grin on Whis's face.

"If only Vegeta would reconsider the offer to replace Lord Beerus now, he'd be a very competent Destroyer with the skills he's accumulated," he sighed happily to himself. He took another sugar cube from its dish and dropped it in his tea, stirring it with a small spoon. He took a sip and sighed happily once more.

When Vegeta and Beerus clashed fists after flying at each other once more, Whis noticed for a split second that his hair changed to a shade of purple. It told him that the possibility for thse Saiyans to reach an even higher plateau was possible. Thinking it over, this might give him insight as to a more "true" Super Saiyan God form that balanced the stamina from red with the power and speed of blue. It was only a matter of time before Vegeta's evolved royal blue form paved the way to this revelation and he grinned.

"That will be enough for today!" He called up to them and Beerus glanced down at him. Vegeta flew down to meet up with Whis and was handed a towel to dry off. Whis conjured a bottle of water and Vegeta drank it down quickly. When Beerus landed on the ground, he touched the side of his face and sighed, annoyed.

"I must be getting sloppy in my age," he said, putting his hands behind his back. Whis tapped his cheek with the tip of his staff and both the blood stain and the cut disappeared.

"I'm quite impressed you've been able to push Lord Beerus this much over the last few years, Vegeta," Whis said and Beerus glared at him. Vegeta didn't look at them, instead keeping his eyes closed to steady his breathing as he was cooling down.

"I've made it clear that I'm not training to be Lord Beerus's replacement," Vegeta said calmly.

"Of course not," Whis said, sitting back down to finish his tea. Vegeta glanced back at the two.

"I sometimes have difficulty coming to terms with the fact you chose to revive Freeza instead of letting him live the rest of his miserable existence in hell. I'm training here to ensure that bastard never sets one foot on Earth ever again."

Beerus coughed for a moment, starting at him.

"You know I don't take kindly to that tone of yours. I took great liberty to ensure that any decision I make is done without consequence, you'd best understand that quickly," Beerus said with a chill hanging on each word. Whis held out a pastry in front of him to get his attention and he glared at him with a sour look. He sighed and took a bite into it. He wanted to stay upset but the flavour and texture of the confectionary were too big to ignore and he closed his eyes, sighing happily.

"However, I'd never hear the end of it if Bulma found out I destroyed you for your insolent tone so I'm letting it slide because I enjoy these confections she makes so much," Beerus said adding in a whisper: "For now."

"She doesn't, she and her mother go out to the local bakery and buy a variety of cakes and pastries," Vegeta said, and Beerus's eyes widened a bit. He sighed quickly and turned around, walking back to his chambers.

"Nevermind. Whis, carry on with the training," he said, motioning his hand towards Whis.

"Of course, my lord," Whis said and offered a plate of cookies to Vegeta. Vegeta looked annoyed at the offer but knew that he couldn't resist how good they were and took a couple into his mouth.

 **Planet Netfiss…**

The Pride Trooper HQ building was bustling with activity as officers brought in a couple vagrants in. Their hands were bound together and the Troopers who brought them in both stopped and saluted to General Kahseral, greet them with a salute in return.

"General, we caught these hooligans attempting to rob a jewelry store. Shall we turn them over to the adjudicator?" one of them asked.

"Turn them over to Cocotte, she'll place them in separate cells until we file the appropriate paperwork," he told them and they forced the vagrants forward past him into a hallway behind him.

Dyspo, sitting by his desk, looked up at Kahseral, his head propped up with a hand. He belted a yawn and sighed.

"More petty thieves who can't learn their lesson, more paperwork to pile on," he said through a yawn and Kahseral leaned up against the desk.

"Justice never sleeps, dear friend. That was the first motto Toppo taught us when we were new recruits," Kahseral said and Dyspo sighed again.

"He's Toppo to us, General. But we gotta remind ourselves that he calls himself Barbon now," Dyspo said, staring off into space.

"I miss having him around too," Kahseral stated.

A clerk handed Dyspo a stack of papers and he sighed again.

"More recruits, huh? Great," Dyspo said sarcastically. Kahseral chuckled a bit.

"More recruits mean more opportunities to uphold Justice in the universe."

"Don't get me wrong, I don't mind seeing more people interested in our cause, but since the Tournament of Power, our popularity skyrocketed and the crime rate dropped significantly. Criminals are too afraid to do anything because of how powerful our forces are. Even saying the name Jiren chills them to the bone."

Kahseral couldn't help but feel a shiver go down his spine when he heard that name.

"I knew he was strong, but I had no idea how much strong he really was."

"I often wonder if we still need someone like him in the Pride Troopers," Dyspo stated. "No one exists in this universe strong enough to take him on. We don't even have to worry about those fighters from Seventh Universe except for that Freeza bastard."

"Tell me something," Kahseral started. "Has your opinion on them changed since the Tournament of Power? That one fighter, Goku was it? Do you still think of him as an evil-doer?"

Dyspo got quiet for a moment. Then a smile crossed his face.

"Nah. I can see based on the company he keeps that we were mistaken in assessing whether his intentions were evil or not. I don't like that he keeps someone like Freeza as an ally but something about the way he conducted himself made me realize that with fighters like him and Jiren, I don't have to worry so much about evildoers like I used to."

"Sir!" a voice cried out from an office door. One of the clerks waved a tablet in his hand and rushed over to Dyspo and Kahseral.

"Is something the matter?" Kahseral asked. Dyspo sat up and looked at the clerk attentively.

"I've just intercepted a transmission from the Space Prison courtesy of Vice Warden Satula," the clerk cried out.

"That little weasel? Tch, what's he bugging us with now?"

"Kettol's ship intercepted an emergency transmission from Satula approximately ninety minutes ago. A prisoner has escaped."

Both Generals stood tall, Dyspo's chair falling to the ground.

"What?! That's a maximum security facility! Lord Barbon designed the specifications to the prison himself! Tell me he's playing a practical joke here," Dyspo yelled. The clerk handed the tablet over to Kahseral and he read it. Then his face grew paler as he read on further. Dyspo glanced at Kahseral as the clerk left and he looked a bit concerned.

"Kahseral?"

"Commander Kettol intercepted an emergency transmission from Vice Warden Satula at approximately 1442 hours. Satula reported that a prisoner escaped with a ship. The transmission repeated itself before it was cut off two minutes and ten seconds later. There have been no further communications from Satula since."

The tablet began to emit a blinking light and Kahseral tapped on it. Kettol appeared on the tablet's screen.

"Commander Kettol," Kahseral said.

"General Kahseral, General Dyspo. I trust you've received my message?" he asked.

"Yes, we did. Satula said a prisoner escaped. Why haven't there been further communications?" Kahseral asked. Kettol glanced down for a moment, frowning.

"We investigated further. We came out of hyperspace near the Space Prison but there's no sign of it anywhere. It's…gone, sir."

Their eyes widened. Kahseral and Dyspo looked at each other, then Dyspo brought his chair back up and sat down, booting up his computer. He looked up the prisoner registry.

"What was the prisoner's identification number?"

"312-1984," Kettol told him, glancing down at the message from Satula again.

"Standby for further instructions, we will contact you shortly. Kahseral out." Kahseral said, shutting off the screen. Dyspo's face grew paler as he looked up prisoner 312-1984's profile and a picture popped up on the screen with the serial number underneath. The simian-like facial structure of the prisoner stared ahead at the camera, a blank expression on his face.

"That's him?" Kahseral asked.

"Y-yeah. We've seen him before," Dyspo said quietly.

"Have we? I don't remember him."

"I do. We were on a remote planet intercepting an illegal transaction between a pirate crew and the inhabitants. We apprehended a group of them and this one resisted arrest, claiming he was not an associate of theirs."

"Oh, him, right," Kahseral said. "I almost forgot about him."

"But how can the Space Prison be gone? It doesn't have a cloaking device," Kahseral said, leaning against the back of Dyspo's chair. Dyspo had his arms crossed, sighing.

"Could he have destroyed it?" Dyspo asked, glancing up a couple times from the screen.

"There'd be debris if there was," Kahseral said and he switched the tablet back on. Kettol's face came back shortly.

"Commander, do your sensors pick up any signs of debris in the vicinity?" Kahseral asked. Kettol shook his head.

"None, sir. Just empty space."

Kahseral and Dyspo looked at each other, a bit more nervous.

"We'll need a higher level sensor sweep of the area. See if you can detect anything out of the ordinary. In the meantime, send a dispatch to Jiren to intercept the escaped prisoner and bring him to us."

Kettol paused. "Jiren, sir? Are you certain?"

"I can't afford to take any unnecessary risks, Commander. Someone capable of destroying the Space Prison is an omega-level threat. We'll assume that Satula relayed the message to all outlying Trooper ships across the galaxy before the prison was destroyed. Each ship docked at the Prison has a tracking device installed so we can relay the ship's current location to Jiren. Report back to us when he has secured the prisoner, over and out."

Elsewhere, on a distant planet, Jiren sat alone along a precipice overlooking the valley below. He was deep in a meditative state, focusing his energy as he floated at least a foot above ground. His wristband communicator began to blink and beep and he opened his eyes.

"Jiren, come in, over," Kettol's voice said. He pressed the button as he stood up.

"Go ahead."

"We have an Omega level emergency, over," Kettol informed him and Jiren's eyes narrowed. Omega level threats was code among the Pride Troopers that let them know that Jiren was needed to contain it.

"Prisoner number 312-1984 has escaped and destroyed the entire prison afterwards. We've tracked and identified the stolen ship and are relaying the coordinates to your communicator, over."

"Understood," Jiren said, switching it off. He examined the data and determined the ship was on a planet several light years from his current location. He immediately took off to pursue the prisoner.

 **A forthcoming battle…**

Kelerot descended into the atmosphere of a planet which on the display read as Knives. After he landed, he disembarked from the cockpit and leaned up against the ship, arms crossed.

 _I'll take some time and work out some fighting rust before I search for planet Gardenia, or what might be left of it if Kutlerie's statement is true. Mental image training can only take me so far._

As he started walking out into the open area, he stopped. His eyes widened as he could feel a tremor in the air. He glanced up into the atmosphere. He had never felt this level of power in another individual before and his heart began to race.

He decided to seek cover behind a pillar of rocks behind the ship and waited for the individual to land on the planet.

When he spotted the familiar red, black, and white colours of the Pride Troopers, his face darkened. But when he saw that it was Jiren who had landed, some of the color faded and his heart pounded. _Is that the one they call Jiren? It's not time yet. I can't be certain whether I have the strength to take him on. Dammit._

"Prisoner number 312-1984! You are hereby ordered to surrender yourself and answer for the crime of destroying the space prison and all inhabitants within!" Jiren shouted as he walked towards the ship. Kelerot scoffed silently as he waited for Jiren's next move.

After a few moments of silence, Jiren glanced at the ship and his eyes flashed a bright light and the ship was engulfed in a powerful explosion. Kelerot shielded himself from the debris and heavy winds that ensued from the destructive force. He swallowed and took a deep breath, stepping out from his hiding spot and walked through the debris of the destroyed ship, ignoring the flames as he approached Jiren. He dusted off the ash from his prison garb and stood before him, staring at him.

"I see I've caused quite the stir if they're sending their absolute best to capture me," Kelerot said. He clenched his fists, getting ready to fight.

"Did you destroy the Space Prison?" Jiren asked.

"Reluctantly. If that idiot Satula hadn't blabbed when he did, I would've spared them all. Their deaths are on him."

Jiren frowned, taking a couple steps forward.

"You will answer for your crime and remain under our custody indefinitely," Jiren stated and Kelerot smiled.

"Which one, the one I just did or the one you idiots keep accusing me of that I maintain my innocence of?"

"Your prior criminal activity is irrelevant to the crime you have committed today. You've taken the lives of prisoners and hard working dedicated Pride Troopers," Jiren said. His militaristic tone began to annoy Kelerot but he ignored it for now.

"If you're referring to Tupper and Vuon, I apologize for involving them. They were good people and I respected them greatly. However, that prison was run by a corrupt power-hungry fool who would've never let any of us go free, regardless whether we had served our time or not. I did our universe a favour by ridding filth like him. If you're advocates of justice like you claim to be, then you should agree that I did this with the best interests of the universe."

Jiren remained silent. Kelerot waited for another statement but Jiren said nothing else. He shrugged his shoulders.

"So be it. But know that this won't go as easily as you think," Kelerot said. Jiren narrowed his eyes as he stared down at him, then they widened up as his aura burst forth and gale force winds blew against Kelerot's body. He steadied himself as he shielded his face with his arms and was able to remain in place as Jiren powered up. He swallowed after the winds died down and glanced behind him to see that such a power-up alone obliterated the topography behind him. What were once rock-like pillars was now a barren landscape.

Kelerot glanced back at Jiren and closed his eyes, smiling. He powered up and his strength rose tremendously as a result. Feeling his power now, he smiled and took up a fighting stance with his arms out in front of him, one closer to his body than the other, keeping his stance grounded. He felt Jiren's power surging through him and the Trooper started with a straight fist that Kelerot dodged at high speed, disappearing in front of him. He reappeared and Jiren anticipated the movement, blocking a kick and moving out of the way. They both moved around the planet's surface at high speed, disappearing and reappearing near each other to trade blows. Kelerot and Jiren blocked each other's strikes, which leveled even more of the landscape from the sheer force of their energy alone, sending large chunks of terrain flying upward.

Jiren was still stronger with each blow and they began to weigh down on Kelerot as he took a hard shot while blocking with a forearm, the punch grazing along upward to hit him in the shoulder instead. He winced from the impact and drew some distance to fire a large energy blast at Jiren in retaliation. Jiren deflected the blast and launched several thousand fists at him in split-second accuracy. Kelerot shielded his body with his arms and hands and felt himself being pushed back from the impact of the high speed blows. He disappeared and began to pick up his speed, moving around Jiren. He went for a punch that was blocked, then blinked around to hit him from a different angle. He moved in for each punch at such velocity that it left an after-image for a brief moment.

Jiren anticipated each of Kelerot's movements as he appeared and countered each punch with one of his own before he grabbed Kelerot by the scruff of his neck and slammed him down on the ground. The impact knocked the wind out of him and he gasped. He quickly regained his composure and was able to deliver a hard double-kick to Jiren's gut, forcing him to let go of his grip and gasp in shock. Kelerot flipped back up onto his feet and Jiren felt the impact on his stomach, frowning at him.

"You're a much better fighter than I give you credit for, criminal," Jiren had a hint of satisfaction in his voice and Kelerot still felt the pain of each blow. He thought the pain he had felt from the other prisoners he fought was eventually second nature but these punches, he could _feel_ them.

"It's been a while since I had an actual fight," Kelerot replied. He rubbed his shoulder and rotated his arm, then resumed his original fighting stance.

"Surrender now. It is pointless for you to continue," Jiren stated as he walked towards Kelerot but Kelerot smiled back.

"I refuse. I'd rather die than surrender to be imprisoned again," he stated and Jiren frowned.

"There is no honor in taking the life of another person, even in battle."

Kelerot studied the ground at his feet. "My hand was forced, Jiren. You learn quickly out in the universe that it's kill or be killed," Kelerot said, widening his stance.

"You acted out of cowardice, bereft of true strength, bereft of justice," Jiren said and he launched himself at such velocity that Kelerot couldn't anticipate it in time and he felt a strong blow hit him in the ribcage through his guard. His eyes widened as he spat out blood from his mouth and he staggered. Jiren continued onward, disappearing and reappearing to unleash more blows and Kelerot had to move around to avoid as much as possible. He realized that his strength still wasn't as close to Jiren's and had to up the ante a bit. _If things get dicey, I might have to use THAT technique._

He flew out of Jiren's range but Jiren was still up in his face, sending him down to the surface with a hard blow. Kelerot was quickly able to tag him in the shoulder area with a jab before he was hit and began a series of quick movements and small jabs that connected with several key areas on Jiren's body as he was being pummeled. When Jiren sent him flying towards a plateau that had miraculously remained intact, Kelerot slowed his velocity down to land on top of it and he collapsed to one knee as a result. He began to breathe a bit harder than usual, the amount of pain he was feeling in his rib cage was unbearable. He had to block it out of his mind and focused what remaining power he had in his body. Jiren flew down and landed in front of him, walking towards him like a predator ready to pounce on his prey one last time.

"Your strength is dwindling; your blows carry no weight behind them," Jiren stated and Kelerot smiled up at him, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. He chuckled a bit.

"What's so funny?" Jiren asked.

"You'll see," Kelerot said calmly and closed his eyes. He moved his hands close together and moved his fingers around in a pattern. When he opened his eyes, he thrust his hands forward and a wave of gravitational energy hit Jiren in the areas that Kelerot tagged with his jabs. Jiren grunted a bit as he felt the gravity bring his body down slightly but he was still able to move.

"A useless technique," Jiren grunted as he kept walking towards Kelerot.

"You might not feel it at first, but over time, it will become apparent," Kelerot said and moved around at high speed again and managed to hit Jiren in the face with a heavy left hook. He couldn't bring up much strength in his right hand due to the pain in his right side but managed to get as much impact as he could with his left arm and Jiren was rocked back so hard that he was sent flying from the plateau to the surface below. Kelerot disappeared in a high speed move and reappeared before Jiren. He winced again as he grabbed his side. _Dammit, I took a lot more damage than I thought I did. I don't have enough energy to focus on a gravity well. I have to use that technique before he finishes me off._

Jiren was a bit slow to get back up on his feet and rubbed the side of his face. He smirked a bit after he lowered his hand. He launched another fist at Kelerot but it was caught. Kelerot grunted at the strength of the blow when he caught it but stared intently at Jiren as he kept his fist from pushing through to hit him. He used this moment to close his eyes and focus.

Jiren frowned and pulled his fist back, jerking it away from Kelerot's grip. Kelerot opened his eyes and narrowly ducked another front strike. He went for an uppercut but Jiren sidestepped it and landed another blow to his already injured ribs, which caused Kelerot to scream out in pain. He staggered back, almost losing his footing and Jiren aimed a large orange-red energy sphere that was emerging from his outstretched hand. Kelerot grimaced as he looked at it grow before him.

"I will at least acknowledge your skills, criminal. Your strength reminds me of Goku's long ago when I fought him at the Tournament of Power," Jiren said and Kelerot stared at him. Through his grimacing face, his eyes did widen a tad.

"It's over," Jiren stated and fired his energy blast that hit Kelerot and sent him to the upper atmosphere. Jiren turned around and crossed his arms, the energy ball exploding in a devastating light and the force rocked the planet surface below. Cracks appeared around the surface and the ground began to shake.

Kelerot's body fell down from the explosion, his eyes closed and his face and body heavily bruised and cut from the energy's impact. He crashed into the ground and his body lay there, motionless.

Jiren flew towards his body and knelt down to check on him. He could still feel a faint pulse, so he knew that holding back on his blow would ensure that it was not fatal. He pressed the button on his communicator as he stood up.

"This is Jiren. I've secured the criminal and incapacitated him. Request medical frigate to move him to Netfiss."

"Good work, Jiren," Kahseral's voice came in from the other side. "We'll send a ship over immediately."

Jiren stood with his arms crossed, waiting for the arrival of the ship. He glanced down at Kelerot's unconscious body for a moment before taking a couple steps forward to sit down and go back to a meditative state.

When the ship arrived, the crew, all dressed in the same Pride Trooper uniforms, gathered to put Kelerot into a tube that hovered above ground. They attached devices to keep his vitals stable and brought him into the ship. Kunshi, another Pride Trooper who had participated in the Tournament of Power, was on board as he disembarked to greet Jiren. He saluted him and surveyed the destroyed landscape, breathing a sigh.

"Hoo boy, that must've been quite the fight," he stated but Jiren ignored him.

"Let me know if you need anything else," Jiren said as he walked past him. He took to the air and flew out of sight. Kunshi shrugged and walked back to the medical ship.

 **A long time ago…**

 _A group of young boys were tending the fields. Their robes blew in the wind as their faces were kissed by the morning breeze. One of them paused and rested his face on the end of his hoe and smiled, closing his eyes._

" _You can't be slacking, Kelerot, master Daikon will give us hell if you do," said a voice behind him. Kelerot chuckled a bit and turned around._

" _I'm not slacking, Spinac," he told him and resumed his work. He was able to trace a straight line into the soft soil and set the hoe down. He reached into the bag tied around his waist and began planting the seeds that were within. When he emptied his bag, he grabbed a water canister and poured a generous amount onto the soil and set it down beside him. Wiping his forehead with the sleeve of his robes, he glanced up at the skies above and sighed._

" _I'd give anything to go there some day," he said._

" _Go where?" Spinac asked._

" _There, out in space, outside Gardenia. There's bound to be so many new experiences and adventures for us to have if we could go."_

" _No one really leaves Gardenia, Kelerot," Spinac said, shaking his head. "Daikon constantly warns of the dangers that await us out there. Besides, we're not fully trained in combat yet."_

 _Kelerot sighed. Spinac did have a point about their training. There was still much to learn and Kelerot was hopeful that his lessons would come full circle some day and he'd make his master proud._

 _A tall male figure walked towards the fields and he whistled at the group. His hair was the color of charcoal and his eyes were black and almond shaped with a full beard framing his jaw. He had the look of a seasoned warrior yet his body showed no signs of scarring or battle wear yet his eyes held an even greater deal of wisdom and experience that earned him respect among his students._

" _Time for training!" he told the kids._

" _Yes, Master Daikon!" some of the boys in the group said in unison. Kelerot and Spinac glanced at each other and smiled, nodding together. They rushed to join the others and walked into Daikon's private dojo._

 _As they walked past him one by one, Daikon observed them as they dressed out of their robes and slipped on their fighter gi. When they lined up before him, he cleared his throat._

" _Conduct your basic exercises for the first hour, then we'll pair off for sparring," he instructed them and they all bowed in unison. They went to work with the basics: push ups, sit ups, squats, and several laps around the dojo until they settled back inside, sitting down on their knees. Daikon began to pair off everyone into eight groups of two. Kelerot was paired with another boy rather than his friend Spinac, since Daikon didn't want them sparring so often together. He felt that no warrior could experience new styles if they always fought the same opponent._

 _Kelerot was one of the top students in the dojo. He trained hard every day and proved himself quite skillful in combat against the other kids. The one he was paired with looked a bit nervous and Kelerot bowed formally at him._

" _Begin!" Daikon cried out and the nervous kid rushed head on at Kelerot, who sidestepped him and tripped him up, causing the kid to fall face first onto the mat. Kelerot quickly rushed over and grabbed him by the hair and gave him a chop to the neck, knocking him out. He sighed as he stood back up and glanced down at him. He turned the kid over and tapped him on the face to wake him up and the kid's eyes shot open. He extended his hand and brought the kid back up on his feet. The kid went for a body blow but Kelerot blocked it with his hand, grabbing the kid's wrist._

" _Aw c'mon!" the kid cried out and Kelerot let the wrist go. He took up a fighting stance and waited for the kid to make a move._

" _Again," Kelerot said. His focus was a lot more intense as his voice grew serious. The kid stared back, even more shaken and he went for a few strikes which Kelerot blocked with ease. He dodged another forward strike and spun around to trip the kid up again by sweeping the legs underneath him. He pressed a knee down on the kid's chest and readied a hand in a stabbing gesture._

" _I yield! I yield!" the kid cried out and Kelerot relaxed his hand to his side. He stood up and offered his hand once more to help the kid back up and the kid sighed._

" _You're new, correct?" Kelerot asked. The kid nodded nervously._

" _You don't need to be nervous. You may be a greenhorn, but experience and proper training will make that fade away over time."_

" _I didn't want to get paired up with you so soon, Kelerot," the kid said._

" _Fighting a stronger opponent is the best learning experience you can get when you train under Master Daikon," Kelerot said and the kid nodded, wiping his nose._

" _No talking," Daikon piped in as he walked behind Kelerot.  
"Yes master," Kelerot said and he resumed his fighting stance once more. The kid sighed and got into a stance himself._

 _They sparred until Daikon whistled again. "Change partners!"_

 _Kelerot was surprised to see that he was paired up with Perilla, a girl he had been friends with far longer than any of the other boys he grew up with in the village. He knew she was good and kept up with his learning, proving herself to be equally as strong as he was to the other students. Daikon would occasionally let the two of them handle training sessions when he took a day off._

 _They traded blows and blocked each others strikes and Perilla almost got Kelerot to submit with his legs trapped underneath her. Kelerot was able to flip her over onto her back and narrowly avoided his heel strike._

" _Kelerot, when are you gonna wash your feet? Or do I have to do it again?" Perilla asked and Kelerot didn't expect that question. She giggled and flipped him over, wrapping his legs to trap them underneath and she grabbed his head. He tapped on the mat as she twisted his head uncomfortably and she let him go, pulling him back to his feet. They bowed at each other and switched partners._

 _When the sparring finished, Daikon instructed them to form a line across from him and he set up targets across from them._

" _Remember your lessons and focus your energy. Visualize the targets before you and aim for the middle," he said, crossing his arms. "Begin!"_

 _Kelerot extended one hand outward and fired an energy blast that hit the target dead-on in the center. Since the targets were digital, they appeared as holograms which Daikon had programmed himself. When one was hit, he pushed a button to bring up another one, and Kelerot shot that down easily as well. Some of the kids took a bit longer to channel energy, while others did so quickly but their aim wasn't as accurate, sometimes narrowly avoiding the target and almost hitting Daikon in the process._

 _Perilla was the only other student who matched each target with Kelerot, shot for shot, aimed directly in the middle. They both stole glances from the other, smirking in hopes that they'd outdo the other._

 _Daikon wasn't concerned for his safety and deflected each blast that was coming his way by accident. The nervous kid Kelerot sparred with first had trouble channeling energy and only a small blast shot from his hand and faded before it even reached part of the target in front of him and he looked at it, saddened by his lack of progress._

" _Focus your energy, Chard!" Daikon cried out at the kid and Chard's hand was shaking._

" _Y-yes, master," Chard said softly and his face grimaced, trying to channel energy again, but the more time he spent, the more frustrating it was for him and he grunted. He could start feeling tears forming in his eyes. Daikon frowned as he noticed this and walked over to him._

" _Kelerot, to my left," he barked and Kelerot rushed over to stand beside him._

" _Kelerot, explain what emotions do to us as warriors," Daikon stated, staring down at Chard._

" _Emotions, when not steeled, dull our focus and tamper with our resolve," Kelerot said, standing at attention. His gaze was serious as he stared ahead._

" _Correct. Crying over your failure does not remedy the situation, Mr. Chard. You can either learn from your mistake and become better tomorrow, or you can quit and live the rest of your life a coward. Choose wisely, Mr. Chard."_

 _Daikon turned around and walked back to the targets while Kelerot looked down at Chard._

" _I can't do it, Kelerot. It's too hard," he said, sniffling._

" _How old are you?" he asked._

" _Eight," Chard said, wiping his nose and his eyes._

" _I was six when I started training with Master Daikon. He's an excellent teacher who will push you to be your absolute best. Lots of dangerous beasts roam Gardenia, eager to prey on any of us. We may have been raised as farmers, but Daikon gave us the ability to fight back and protect ourselves and our crops from danger. The best students have gone off to travel the lands and hunt down the more dangerous creatures so we can be sure our families aren't threatened. We're much safer now than we were years ago."_

 _Kelerot ruffled Chard's head. "I did much worse than you when I first started, but I never gave up. Master Daikon said out of all of his students, I showed the most determination. It wasn't easy and he was always on my back pushing me to do better. You can do wonders if you have determination as well."_

" _Okay!" Chard nodded and the shaking in his hands were gone. He took a deep breath and could feel the energy gather in his hand once more and he let loose a larger energy blast, though not as big as some of the other students but was still able to hit his target regardless. Kelerot smiled and tapped him on the chest._

 _After the lessons ended, Perilla and Kelerot were on their way out. He couldn't help but stare at her beautiful brown eyes and when she whispered something in his ear, his face went red. She shot him a gaze before she left and Kelerot swallowed. His heart was pounding._

 _Daikon tapped Kelerot on the shoulder before he left and Kelerot glanced back in surprise, holding his breath._

" _I'm sorry, master," he said, breathing out. "I assure you that what happens between Perilla and I stay outside the dojo," he sounded nervous but Daikon dismissed it._

" _Your relationship isn't what I got your attention for, Kelerot. I need you to stay for a while longer, I have something important I'd like to go over with you," he told him._

" _Of course, Master," Kelerot said._

 _When the last student left the dojo, Daikon locked the door, leaving just himself and Kelerot in the room. He stood before Kelerot and crossed his arms._

" _I believe now is the time to teach you a very important technique."_

" _Me sir? Why not Perilla? She's a better student than I am," Kelerot boasted and Daikon paused._

" _Perilla is my best student, that much is clear. But I had you in mind specifically for this technique, Kelerot. What I'm about to teach you will prove useful in the future should you ever find yourself in a tight spot."_

 _Kelerot nodded, waiting for further instructions. Daikon walked over to him and took his hand._

" _I call this 'Delving'."_

" _Delving?" Kelerot asked and Daikon nodded._

" _Over time you may come to develop your own style of fighting and any technique that may come from it. But delving has the potential to unlock everything there is to know about another person through their life energy. Each of us has a unique pattern to our energy and Delving has a way to sort of gain access to that pattern and study them._

" _However, in order to delve another person, it requires a great deal of focus and concentration of your own energy. One mistake and the consequences would be disastrous for you._

" _However, should you prove to be successful, you will have gained access to that fighter's arsenal of techniques, fighting styles, maybe even levels of energy you never thought possible. There's no depth to how far you can delve another fighter, but it does come with great risk. Take heed of these three rules:_

" _Number one: you must not abuse this technique to steal other techniques for your own. Only use Delving to study your opponent so you know their style of combat: how they fight, what techniques they have, and strategies to work on to defeat them. Having that level of knowledge will give you a significant advantage over your opponent. There may come a time when you'll need to use their techniques but relying solely on them to win a battle brings no honor and you can not progress as a warrior. Your true strength needs to come from the path you've chosen for yourself as you face new challenges each day._

" _Number two: the slightest lapse of concentration on your part could backfire and leave you open to them. Delving your opponent leaves you exposed to them if you're not careful. It might confuse them at first but a skilled veteran will adapt quickly and use it to their advantage to Delve you instead._

" _Number three, and this is the most important: Do not, under any circumstance, use Delving beyond acquiring basic knowledge of your opponent. Use it only to study how they fight. There is no limit to how far you can reach as you're Delving. Your opponent will be completely open to you: memories, feelings, secrets they chose to keep for themselves. There are things in this universe no person alive should ever bear witness to and having someone they've never met before accessing those repressed memories is a horrifying thing to experience, and it hurts even more when its done by someone you know without your knowledge. I am trusting you with this technique, Kelerot. I know you will not misuse it."_

" _Understood, Master," Kelerot said. Daikon held his hand out, palm facing upward._

" _Place your hand on top of mine," he instructed. "Focus all your energy and sense my essence through the connection."_

 _Kelerot closed his eyes and concentrated. He could sense Daikon's energy from within him and he centered his focus on that._

" _Do you have it?" Daikon asked._

" _Yes."_

" _Good. Study my energy pattern and build yourself a visual image of me in your mind using my essence as a guide."_

 _Kelerot began to picture an outline of Daikon. The energy he was connecting himself to began to fill in the outline and the silhouette of Daikon became clearer. The image began to move around using Daikon's style of fighting and Kelerot could see the techniques he was using as a result. There was one unique move that Daikon used: a somersault back-flip kick that looked intriguing to him and he opened his eyes, looking at him. He took a few steps back and managed to execute the same move he saw the Daikon image do in his mind, flipping backwards and kicking the air at the same time. Daikon's eyes widened a bit as a smile crossed his lips._ He learned that so quickly.

 _When Kelerot landed on the floor again, he looked at his hands and then at Daikon. He couldn't hold back the excitement on his face as he stared at his master._

" _I-I did it!" he cried out and put his hands together, bowing at him._

" _Your focus is phenomenal. Everyone else before you I've tried to teach either couldn't concentrate hard enough to delve me correctly and it backfired on them, or they violated one of the three rules afterwards. It's a very dangerous thing, having that much power. I pray I made the right decision and you will not misuse this. You've come a long way since I first laid eyes on you in that field after the incident and both you and Perilla have made this old man proud."_

" _I've been practicing a lot, master, thanks to you" Kelerot said, putting his hands together to bow at him._

" _Indeed you have, and I'm grateful for that," Daikon smiled. He put his hand around his student's shoulder and walked towards the door._

" _The best part about this technique is that with enough practice you can delve your opponent regardless of where you initiate physical contact. Proper stealth will prevent the technique from backfiring on you."_

 _Kelerot grinned at that concept for a moment, then something occurred to him._

" _Master, when you told me about the three rules I have to heed, I guess that meant those who failed to master the technique violated them gravely?" he asked and Daikon froze, staring ahead. He glanced over at him and chuckled a bit._

" _There are things we keep for ourselves; our memories and knowledge that is exclusive and unique to us alone. Delving violates another's personal space enough as it is when you're studying how they fight; you don't want that kind of power over them when you start to know everything about them. I'm certain there are precious memories Perilla keeps to herself that she wouldn't want you to know about and respecting her privacy is the mark of an honorable fighter. I know you're a good kid, Kelerot. I'd hate to see you stray from that path."_

" _I won't. I promise. I aim to continue honoring your teachings and share in your wisdom," Kelerot said as Daikon unlocked the door._

" _And Kelerot, I know you'll probably tell Perilla about why I kept you and I won't mind if you do. But this is a technique exclusively between the two of us. There's nothing gained in having an entire group of Delvers roaming around the universe._

 _When they walked out, it was already nighttime and Kelerot stifled a yawn._

" _Go home and rest. Continue to practice this technique as you spar with the other students," Daikon ordered him._

" _Yes, master," Kelerot said, nodding._

" _Remember what you promised me," Daikon said, staring at him. His expression was stern and fatherly as he waited for Kelerot's answer._

" _I do, and I will, master," Kelerot said. Daikon smiled, putting a hand on Kelerot's shoulder. When Kelerot left to find Perilla, Daikon was watching the skies above. He felt the breeze touch his face as he marched to his cabin along the outskirts of the village and he paused._

" _The winds have shifted," he said to himself, frowning._

 **Escape…**

Three days passed since Kelerot's lost to Jiren and he opened his eyes to see himself in a hospital room. He was bandaged up on the bed while his wrists, ankles, and chest held down with restraints.

He reacted when he realized now that he was held down but he could move nothing but his head, sighing as he stared up at the ceiling.

The doors to the room slid open and two nurses walked in. When they saw that Kelerot was glancing at them, one of them pressed a button on the panel beside the door.

"General Dyspo and General Kahseral, he's awake," she said through the intercom.

"Understood, we're on our way," Dyspo's voice came through, which caused Kelerot's eyes to widen and his face to go dark a bit.

When the two Pride Troopers arrived in the room, Kelerot glared at them. His gaze made the two feel a bit uncomfortable but Dyspo brushed it aside and held out a tablet, pushing a button. He cleared his throat.

"Two hundred and eighty two prisoners, six nurses, one doctor, two elite Pride Troopers, five standard troopers, forty guards, one vice warden, twenty office employees, and the Warden himself. Three hundred and fifty eight lives lost at your hands. What do you have to say for yourself, Number 312-1984?"

"My name is Kelerot," Kelerot said in a flat tone and Dyspo nearly broke the tablet.

"You have no name! No identity! Once you break the law you become the property of the Pride Troopers to serve time in prison until you are rehabilitated into society. Only through hard work, obedience, respect for justice, and loyalty to the Pride Troopers do you earn the right to your identity!"

Kahseral put a hand on Dyspo's shoulder and Dyspo walked away in a huff, pacing back and forth as he eyed Kelerot like a predator ready to pounce.

"I can see by the look on your face that you remember who we are, Number 312-1984?" Kahseral asked. Kelerot was following Dyspo with his eyes as he paced around the room.

"Answer my ques-"

"I don't forget the faces of those who pass absolute judgment without looking at the finer details of the big picture. Especially that long-eared buck-toothed idiot hot-head over there."

"What did you say?!" Dyspo barked and Kahseral raised his hand.

"Go out in the hall, Dyspo. It's clear he's provoking you into killing him. We need him alive, remember?"

Dyspo shot one infuriated look at Kelerot before shoving the tablet into Kahseral's chest, storming out of the room. Kelerot grinned as he looked up at the ceiling. He tried to lift his hands up but grunted as the restraints made him still like a statue.

"Your restraints are too strong for you to break, 312-1984, I wouldn't bother," Kahseral told him. He read the number of casualties and each name beside it, wincing when he saw Tupper and Vuon's faces appear. He laid the tablet down at the foot of the bed between Kelerot's feet and crossed his arms.

"What compelled you to escape the prison and destroy the facility with everyone in it?" he asked.

"Kutlerie. He saw us as nothing but pets for him to take care of. Not one prisoner was ever granted parole while they served time in that prison and I'm sure you were made aware of that," Kelerot saw a flicker of movement in Kahseral's eyes, trying to look away.

"Let me ask you something, General. Do you always pass judgment first before asking questions? Do you tend to practice guilt by association often when you encounter your supposed 'evildoers'?"

"If you're referring to the band of Pirates we apprehended you with, we've been in search of them for two years before we intercepted a transmission via a mole we planted in their crew. Our orders were to capture all Pirates without question and bring them in to be sentenced. You would've been given a life sentence had you not plead guilty."

" _Forced_ to plead guilty, General," Kelerot corrected him and Kahseral sighed.

"Look, whether you actually were in league with them or not has no bearing on what you've done three days ago. The mass murder of over three hundred and fifty people is something we've never encountered before and something we cannot take for granted."

"And every single one of them would've been alive today had Satula not opened his mouth when he did!" Kahseral's face darkened when he heard that. Kelerot had an air of despair in his voice and Kahseral glanced down at the tablet again. He tapped a button on it to shut it off and he took it in his hands.

"I've personally received complaints with regards to Satula and Wardern Kutlerie from the office personel. I've been no stranger to the possibility that the Warden and Vice-Warden have abused their authority. There have been rumors of cage fights occurring while you were in prison. Is this correct?"

"Organized by the Pride Troopers, a few of the guards, and approved by Kutlerie himself, General," Kelerot said and Kahseral's eyes widened a bit.

"He thought having me face other prisoners in cage fights would provide stability and morale in the prison at the expense of my compliance. As long as I was beaten to near-death each week for the last fifteen years, I made everyone there stay happy. All because I was at the wrong place at the wrong time with no alibi to prove my innocence no thanks to Toppo and you lot. Shall I go on, General?"

Kahseral swallowed. "No, that will be fine. However, due of your actions, we no longer have proof to file a formal inquisition into Kutlerie's actions and thus remove him from his position. You acted in your own best interest which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people and that act carries with it the death penalty. You have two options to choose from: one, we bring you to Lord Barbon to be destroyed; or two, we keep you restrained for the rest of your existence in a prison custom-made by Cae and Marcarita themselves. You have until tomorrow to make your decision."

Kahseral said nothing else and left the room. When he met Dyspo, he didn't realize that his hands were shaking.

"You handled that better than I could, Kahseral. I envy your restraint," Dyspo said and Kahseral handed him the tablet before his grip loosened too much. He sat down on the first bench he could find and removed his beret, holding it in his hands to calm himself down.

"You should've seen his eyes, Dyspo. That was fifteen years of hatred directed at us."

"What, you're saying we should've let him go when we caught him back then?"

Kahseral gave him a look and Dyspo's breath caught. "General, get your head in the game. We have a mass murderer restrained on that bed now and you're having second thoughts as to his guilt?!"

"Not for what he just did, Dyspo. But what if what he claimed was true then? Did we act in haste when we apprehended him or did we do the right thing?"

"We act in the best interests of the Pride Troopers, Kahseral. We act as a group, and we pass judgment as a group. For all we know he could've acted innocent to lure us in a false sense of security and kill one of us when we least expected it. Toppo made the right call and I cannot question it, you know that."

Kahseral stared at the floor, then nodded. His hands stopped shaking but he was still feeling a knot in his stomach, the knot tightening whenever he glanced at the door to the room the prisoner was restrained in. He rose and put his beret back on.

"I've given him his options. I pray he picks the first one. I can't imagine spending eternity in the prison Marcarita made yesterday." He and Dyspo requested an audience with Barbon and Marcarita, recounting the events that took place three days ago and Barbon went quiet. He told them to bring the captured criminal to him so he would be destroyed. Marcarita presented another solution and created a small prison made out of crystal, large enough to hold one large adult inside. She said he would be imprisoned in this crystal until the end of time and he would never be able to escape. Either way, both options were absolute in their end result. When they returned to Netfiss, the two Generals looked uncomfortable and spent a restless sleep that very night, which was one of the reasons Dyspo was a bit grumpier than usual when they went to the hospital to speak to the criminal after he woke up.

After Kahseral left the room, the nurses checked Kelerot's vitals and he watched them.

"How bad am I hurt?" he asked.

"You've been administered special medicine that will numb your pain receptors and preserve your internal organs. You've suffered six broken ribs on your right side and one of them almost punctured your lung. Fortunately, you are not bleeding internally so you'll survive the night until we release you into the care of the Pride Troopers."

"And then be either destroyed at the hands of Toppo or imprisoned forever in something this Marcarita made?" Kelerot asked, more to himself than to the nurses.

"We're only here to treat your injuries, we're not affiliated with the Pride Troopers but this medical facility cooperates with them voluntarily. What they do with you after we discharge you is out of our hands."

"I see," Kelerot said, then winced when he felt his stomach growl. The nurses both heard it and their eyes widened.

"It's been days since I last had something to eat. You wouldn't let me starve to death, would you?" the nurse to his left gave him a stern look.

"Of course not." She left the room, motioning to the younger looking nurse to monitor him. The younger woman, who looked more polite, changed the pillow underneath Kelerot's head. _If I could recover my strength somehow, I can probably do away with these restraints and get out of here. I can't afford to cause any chaos in this building, otherwise I'll have Dyspo and Kahseral down my throat. I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to kill me and be done with it._

A few moments passed by and the first nurse came back with a cart that had a plate of food on it. The younger nurse pressed a button that raised the back of Kelerot's bed, so he could end up in a seated position. He went to move his hands but they were still bound.

"Could you undo these so I can eat?" He asked them.

"No, now open up," said the first nurse and Kelerot opened his mouth. She shoved a spoonful of food into his mouth and he winced at the taste. He was hoping it would be flavourful but had to manage somehow. She continued until the plate was empty and Kelerot sighed.

"I'm still hungry," he said and the nurse stared at him.

"Every patient here only gets one meal around this time," she told him.

"Then you don't understand my physiology very well, do you?" he retorted with a bit of sass behind his voice.

"Should I have?" she sassed back. She's dealt with a lot of difficult patients before that she no longer tolerated their behaviour and gave them equal treatment for bad behaviour.

"If I don't eat a lot, I'll get weaker and then I'd die. You can't have me dying before the Pride Troopers do their little sentencing now, could you?" Kelerot said, lying a bit. He knew that his people ate a lot, that much was certain as their roles as farmers were to cultivate the lands year round and grow enough crops to feed them each day. It was even more torturous for him while he was at the Prison, stealing a few extra pieces of food from other prisoners while they weren't looking, using his speed to his advantage.

The nurse sighed and motioned to the other nurse. "Fine. Go fetch another serving."

"Yes, ma'am," she said, bowing at her.

"You get one more and that's it."

"That still won't be enough. I need a lot more than just two servings," Kelerot said and the nurse grew even more annoyed. When the younger nurse came back with a second tray of food, Kelerot was force fed a lot more sternly by the older nurse as the younger one looked on. The older nurse then gave him a dirty look and left the room. Kelerot chuckled a bit and eased himself back onto the pillow. The younger nurse gave Kelerot a sad look after her superior left the room.

"Please don't upset the head nurse, sir," she said. Kelerot looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"They didn't feed me a lot at that prison. There'd be nights where I'd almost pass out from hunger but I had to toughen it out. What sort of reputation would the prison have if one of their prisoners starved to death? That would look bad on them and on the Pride Troopers as a whole. I could've been stubborn with them and begged for more but I did what I could to survive in there and bide my time until I left."

"Things might have been harsh for you, sir. But I cannot help you. The head nurse was generous this time, but she won't help you any more than that. You should get some rest."

After she left the room, Kelerot stared out into the open room. He looked down at the bindings.

 _Those idiots have no idea how often I've been delving everyone there_.

He cycled through his memory of all the prisoners techniques he delved and found a couple of useful ones but they weren't going to help him escape this facility. There had to be something he could use to break these restraints. He closed his eyes and went back to his fight with Jiren. He managed to delve him and was surprised by how much power was in his aura. He felt chilled to the bone sensing Jiren's true power through the depths of his delving technique. He dismissed it as he studied Jiren's techniques and saw that a lot of them brought nothing but destruction in its wake. There was one he could use with his eyes, however, and he pictured Jiren using that technique where his eyes widened and a flash of light shot out, followed by a huge explosion.

He remembered now that this was the technique Jiren used to destroy the ship Kelerot escaped the prison with. That might be just enough to destroy these restraints. He focused his mind and conjured an image of himself doing the very same technique and he spent a while meditating and practicing the technique in his mind.

He had to make do with the numbness in his head. He wasn't sure how long this medicine would last before the numbness subsided and the pain returned. He was feeling a bit lightheaded after they injected him with a fresh dose and his light-headedness made him feel drowsy but he had to stay awake long enough to focus on using Jiren's technique properly. He opened his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He stared intently at the restraint on his left wrist and focused his energy. A bright flash of light emerged from his eyes and the bindings shattered with a loud ping. The sound shook him, and he began to worry that it was loud enough to alert the nurses. He had to risk it and with his free arm, he channeled as much energy as he could to strengthen his hands and he was able to rip off the remaining bindings that kept him on the bed. He removed anything that was still attached to his body and he sat up on the bed. He still felt stiff and almost collapsed as he stood up from the bed. He held himself up and wobbled forward towards the window. He could see how dark it was outside as a flash of lightning jutted through the clouds above. He could hear the heavy rain fall outside and looked out the window. When he saw how high he was up in the facility he frowned.

"If I jumped out of this window, I'd end far worse than I am now," he whispered to himself. _And that was all the energy I could muster to destroy those bindings._

He needed to sneak out some other way and he walked around the room. He looked at his clothing and saw that he had none and took one of the sheets to cover himself with. When he felt his mobility improve a bit, he walked over to the door and opened it slowly.

He took a peek outside and saw there were no signs of nursing staff for the moment. He decided to walk out and head down to the end of the hallway to a door that had an exit sign hanging overhead. _This will do._

He opened the door and it led him to a set of stairs going in both directions. He began to walk down but he stopped when he heard footsteps and low voices getting louder as they were walking up the steps near his location. He glanced back and hurried up the flight of stairs to hide. He waited to see where they were going and they walked towards the door. They looked like doctors from what Kelerot could see but he wasn't sure unless he chanced a closer look. It mattered little to him as they opened the door and walked down the hallway, letting the door close slowly behind them. He went back down the stairs and checked for any other noises. When it remained quiet, he walked down the steps as fast as his legs could take him, holding onto the ramp to keep himself from falling. When he reached the very bottom, there was a door before him with a sign that read "emergency: alarm will sound when opened."

Kelerot was too busy to notice the sign as he watched the stairs behind him, backed into the door. When he pushed back onto the door to open it, a beeping noise sounded that was very loud and he began to panic. _Dammit!_

He rushed out and sheltered himself from the heavy rainfall under the bedsheet. He broke into a jog to a thicket of trees illuminated by a flash of lightning but each step he took sent pain that shot up into his injured rib cage and he grunted and hissed each time. He knew he needed out of there as quickly as possible during the night while the activity of the hospital staff was minimal.

He scanned the surrounding area from the trees and noticed that the medical facility resided beyond a large wooded area. Because of how dark it was, he could maneuver through the trees without being detected and it would be a while before anyone would notice that he had escaped from the facility.

As he walked on ahead, the bright lights of the cityscape could be seen despite the heavy rainfall. He could use the tall buildings within the city to help him stay out of sight and somehow devise a plan to recover. _Once I recover enough strength I'll need to steal another ship and get as far away from here as possible._

He began to run towards the cityscape and decided to channel enough energy to fly up in the air, taking off from the ground. He grimaced as he did this, realizing that he could only fly for a couple minutes before his energy gave out. He could see the roof of one of the buildings ahead and aimed himself for that spot. When he couldn't maintain his power anymore, he crashed onto the floor of the rooftop and rolled over, hitting an air conditioning unit. He gasped in shock and held onto his sides. The wound that was heavily bandaged along his right side ruptured and his eyes widened as blood was seeping through the bandage, mixing with the rainwater that soaked the bandage completely. He winced and cursed the air as he groaned, holding the bedsheet against his side to press up against the wounded area. _I'll die a free man, that's all that matters to me now._

He chuckled a bit before he passed out, the rain drenching his face and body.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – "A clash of power! Uub's showdown with his dark past."**

 **Goku returns…**

Uub and Pan cleared up the landscape by moving several large rocks, tossing them into the ocean. Uub could feel the weight of the turtle shell as he lifted each rock and when he cleared the last one from the area, he sat down on the ground and breathed heavily. Pan was equally exhausted as she lay down on her back beside him. They worked tirelessly throughout the day and their faces were drenched in sweat, Pan's hair matted to her cheeks and forehead.

"I can't stand this weighted gi anymore!" Pan groaned and wanted to rip it off but the fabric was remarkably tough. Uub leaned back a little, supporting himself with his hands and glanced back at the turtle shell.

"Master Goku should be back soon. A month should have passed by now for sure, though we've been so busy helping around the village that I can't say for sure how much time has passed."

"Then should we get out of this weighted gear?" Pan asked. Uub shook his head.

"It would be rude of us to deny Master Goku the fruits of our training if we get impatient. However, I think a little break from wearing this might not be a bad idea."

"Agreed. I don't think grandpa would get mad at us if we took a small break from all this training," she said and took the weighted gi off. She still had a sleeveless undershirt and a pair of boxer shorts on underneath and she let the gi fall to the ground with a thud. She breathed a heavy, happy sigh and closed her eyes. She didn't care that Uub was right next to her as she took the gi off, she just wanted out of those heavy clothes.

Uub slipped the turtle shell off his shoulders and let it fall with an even heavier thud, sinking into the ground. Pan looked at it for a moment and when she tried to pick it up off the ground, she grunted as she could barely lift it a couple inches. Her eyes widened when she looked back and forth from the shell to Uub.

"How heavy is this thing? I can barely lift it!" she cried out and Uub blushed a bit, feeling slightly embarrassed by his show of strength this past month.

"I was surprised myself, at first," Uub said. "Master Goku must really feel confident that I can push myself as hard as possible before the Tournament."

Pan's eyes lit up as she smiled. "Hey Uub, maybe now I have the strength I need to push myself to become a Super Saiyan?"

"Why not give it a try? I'll give you some distance," he said and backed away from Pan. He waved at her.

"Whenever you're ready!" He cried out and Pan began channeling energy to build up her aura. She began to well up her anger, thinking about all her past failures at trying to transform. She focused on the frustration she had felt and how humiliating it must've been for her to fall behind Bulla in terms of their training. She felt anger and a bit of jealousy towards her friend for having more Saiyan blood than she did.

She cried out, her aura glowing brighter and hotter than before and she could feel her hair rise up a bit. When it reached a fever pitch, she bellowed out another cry and her hair flashed gold for a brief moment before her energy gave out and she collapsed on her hands and knees. Uub looked on in surprise and rushed to her side.

"Woah! You almost did it!" He cried out, a huge grin on his face. Pan wasn't as enthusiastic, as she stared at the ground.

"No…"

Uub paused for a moment. He could barely hear her mutter her frustration yet again.

"No, it's not enough. Why? WHY?!" She cried out, her voice growing louder. She slammed her fists into the ground and it shook the area, causing cracks to form from the impact.

"What am I doing wrong?! Why won't it work?!" She yelled, tears falling down on her face. Uub hesitantly reached down with a hand to put on her back for comfort but she knocked it away.

"Pan…"

"It's not fair! I have Saiyan blood! I should have this nailed down by now! Do you know how humiliating this is for me to be the only Saiyan that can't transform?!" She screamed and a different kind of power shot out from each outburst. Uub felt each impact hit the area around her as her aura pulsated white in sudden bursts. His eyes began to widen, unsure what to make of this. He sensed Pan's energy more in depth when he began to focus on it but it felt limitless, as though Pan was awakening to something completely different than the Super Saiyan form he sensed from Bulla.

Pan shouted as her power burst forth and it almost blew Uub away. He steadied himself against her power but her energy was still able to push him back. He felt his feet drag along the ground as strong winds blew trees off their roots. Sparks of white hot energy crackled around Pan as she continued screaming and Uub had to power up to steady himself from the impact.

"Pan! Calm yourself down before you wreck the islands!" Uub cried out at her but she was too deep in her rage to think rationally. Uub rushed to comfort Pan but she quickly moved to knock him away with the back of her hand. He caught it and held her down with his arms around her. His worry made him hold on tighter as he closed his eyes and hoped that his voice would reach her.

"Pan, come back to me, please," Uub said and he could feel her energy diminish as her screams ebbed.

He held on long enough for her to stop screaming completely and she nearly passed out, feeling lightheaded.

"What…what just happened?" She said, her voice faint. Uub held her by the shoulders and looked down at her, face-to-face.

"I don't know," he said and she grinned slightly. She felt so exhausted that she fell backwards and Uub caught her before she hit the ground and lifted her up in his arms.

When he took her back to his village, he was met with a lot of stares from the villagers. He knew that Pan's explosion of energy rocked the area, including their island and he felt embarrassed to look at anyone. Explain to his village that a ten year old girl had a meltdown that almost destroyed the entire archipelago of islands with her shouting alone?

He hurried past his mother to place Pan on his bed in his hut and she had already passed out from exhaustion before he even laid her down.

When he walked out of his home, Pinappa was sitting quietly by a fire Coco and Natta made for her. She looked worse than she did a month ago before Uub and Pan began their training and Uub grabbed a blanket from inside to wrap it around her shoulders.

"Thank you, baboo," she said weakly. She pulled the blanket closer and Uub stared at her with a pained expression on his face.

"Mama," Uub said, unsure of what to say.

"Spit it out, Baboo. Can't have me dying before you talk now, can I?" she said, chuckling a bit but she coughed right afterwards. Uub wanted to comfort her but she held a hand up to keep him where he was.

"Pan, she, um…" he began and Pinappa was still watching the flames dance over the bundle of sticks and dried leaves the twins used to start the fire with.

"I figured Pan had more power to her, being the granddaughter of Goku and all. The same goes for you, baboo. I'll never know how you came to have all that power but I've always been grateful to Kami for blessing my life with you."

"I don't know why I have this power either, mama," Uub said, his voice shaking a bit as the fire reflected off his eyes that began to water. "But thanks to master Goku's teachings, I've got a firm grasp of this power. While I may not know the secret behind what I have, I know for a fact that I will do anything I can to protect the village and the planet."

"Why not have you and Pan figure that out for yourselves?" Palma stated and Uub's eyes widen a bit.

"Mama?"

"Do you believe you'd become a better fighter if you understood your power? I believe Pan would want to know herself. She went and discovered something she didn't know she had, did she?"

Uub nodded. Pinappa began to cough even more, hacking and shaking and Uub rushed to her side.

"Mama!" he cried out and caught her before she collapsed on the ground. His face was wrought with worry and he called out to the inside of the house.

"Coco! Natta! Come help bring mama back in the house!" He cried out and his twin brothers rushed out. They too looked concerned at the state of their mother and they all helped her slowly walk inside. Her breathing was hoarse and she wheezed with each breath, which caused Uub's heart to race. When they laid her down on her bed, she glanced over to where Pan was lying down.

"Poor dear," she whispered and coughed some more. Uub rushed to the kitchen area to gather some items for a hot beverage and he began boiling a pot of water. He made his mother's tea recipe and brewed it to her liking, a flavour he enjoyed himself whenever she'd make it for him.

"Help her up," Uub said to his brothers, and they were able to bring Palma to a seated position on the bed. When he finished the tea, he handed a cup over to her and she smiled at her boys.

"Stop giving me that face, baboo," Palma said, leering at him.

"Mother, I can't help it."

"Same goes for you two as well. You all need to be strong for your mama, got that?" she whispered and the twins nodded. The three boys were heavy with worry and they had to avert their eyes so they wouldn't start crying at the sight of their ill mother. But she still smiled regardless and chuckled a bit.

"I know how difficult this must be for you, knowing how little time I have left. When I'm gone, you will need each other's strength to keep going. Remember, you have the whole village to look after you. Don't ever feel like you're alone or lament that you no longer have us to look after you. I don't want you to keep feeling sad for me. I want you three to be happy, strong, and proud. You do this for your mother, understand?"

Uub wiped his eyes and nodded, taking her hands in his. "I will, mama."

"Brother? What's wrong with Pan?" Coco asked him. Natta kept his arms wrapped around Pinappa as Uub turned to face Pan.

"She tapped into a power she didn't know she had and she exhausted herself as a result. I'll let her sleep it off and find a place on the floor to sleep for the night."

"Will she be okay?" Coco asked. Uub walked over to Pan and was hesitant at first but he eventually put a hand on her head, brushing her hair off her face.

"I think she will be. When master Goku comes back, I'll let him know and see if he can help her out."

Pinappa gave Natta a tight squeeze and ushered him towards his bed, Coco following behind him. Uub sat down against the mattress of his bed. She drank her tea in silence, smiling down at Uub.

"When you see Goku next time, tell him I'm grateful for the things he's done. He's made you very strong. I couldn't be happier knowing that man wasn't such a pain in the back," she said, chuckling a bit. She coughed again and took another sip of her tea. Uub blushed a bit with a smile on his face.

"I probably won't be as strong as master Goku, but I feel good about how far I've come," he said, and stifled a yawn.

"Go to sleep, baboo," Palma said and Uub nodded. He felt his eyelids grow heavy until they closed and he drifted off into sleep. Palma finished the last of her tea and set the cup down beside her bed.

"I love you boys," she whispered and laid back down to fall asleep as well.

Several days passed and both Uub and Pan were hard at work again in the village. They did their usual morning route to fetch items for the villagers from the neighbouring market across the ocean to the next largest island, some distance away from Papaya island. They made it their goal not to fly but to run as fast as they could while wearing their weighted gear. They both took turns rowing a boat that was docked by the edge of the island to travel from one to the other. It was exhausting for them, but they both knew that this was the training Goku intended for them, passed on from what he had learned years ago when he was a kid training under Roshi, the Turtle Hermit.

They spent the past month building new houses, Uub and Pan hauling large items too heavy for the villagers to carry on their own. This saved time and the need for equipment to haul heavy objects, the two kids volunteering their strength to carry everything for them. They completed a building sturdy enough to withstand the harsh elements that bombarded the island now and then during the spring and summer months so their food storage was safe. He entrusted the care of his mother to Coco and Natta and they became quite adept at housework and cooking. Despite her illness, she knew things were in good hands.

As the sun set over the horizon, Pan and Uub went for a walk down the trail that led out of the village to a clearing, which took them to another dense canopy of trees and eventually made their way to the edge of the island. When they hit the beaches, Pan smiled as the breeze hit her face.

"This feels so nice," she whispered and closed her eyes. Uub did the same and they both paused to savour the moment.

"Hey Pan, I want to show you something. It's a secret place," Uub said and Pan blinked, looking up at him.

"Secret?" She said, her grin widening. "I love secret places."

"Then follow me," Uub said and he took to the air.

"Hey! What about the rule against flying?" Pan called out to him and Uub shook his head.

"There's no other way to get there unless we fly. It's quite a ways from here so we'll need to fly fast to reach it. C'mon!" He waved at her and she followed closely behind him. They flew northeast for several minutes, climbing up higher as everything below her looked miniscule. Uub slowed himself down to fly beside Pan, staying a bit close and they both smiled at each other. Uub didn't realize it at first until he felt Pan's hand gently grab his. His eyes widened and he glanced at her, but all she did was return his gaze with a warm smile, not saying anything. Uub blushed a bit and looked ahead.

"Ah, there it is, up ahead," he said and he began to make his descent, Pan holding onto his hand as she followed closely. When they landed, Uub began to walk, moving several branches and bushes aside.

"I discovered this area a while ago while training with master Goku. I often like to come here to relax and knew that putting in a lot of hard work would need a place like this to help ease our aching muscles."

When he pushed past the last of the branches, the area opened up to a set of hot springs and Pan's eyes lit up. She gasped and put her hands to her mouth.

"Oh wow…" she muttered and took a couple steps forward. She almost lost her footing and fell into one of the springs but Uub was there to hold her steady.

"I can't believe you know of a place like this. It's so beautiful," she said and crouched down to test the waters and felt how hot they were to the touch. Uub let the turtle shell slide off his shoulders and took the top part of his gi off. Pan saw what he was doing and her face went red.

"Um, Uub? Are you actually taking _all_ of your clothes off?"

Uub's eyes widened a bit and he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, we don't need to use the same hot springs if you want, um, privacy," he told her and she shook her head.

"You know what? It's okay," she said and stripped off her heavy gi, leaving her in her undershirt and boxer shorts again. "There's no one else around for miles and we'll keep this between us. Just don't get any lewd thoughts, got it?"

She leered at him and Uub blushed. He never once thought of anything of the sort with regards to his friend, Pan. He was familiar with boy and girl parts that his mother taught him, but that was the extent of it.

"You don't have to watch if you're not comfortable. I'll let you know when I'm in the spring," Pan said and Uub turned to face the other way and close his eyes as Pan took off the rest of her clothes to climb down into the hot spring. She turned around to face him.

"Okay, I'm in," she said and Uub turned around. All he could see of her was the top of her shoulders and her head and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Um, could you turn around as well?" He asked her timidly and she paused for a moment before she turned to look away, red in the face. Uub undressed as well and climbed into the spring while Pan covered her eyes.

"You can look now," he said and they both sat there beside each other in awkward silence, wading into the hot water.

"We'd probably boil alive if we weren't as strong as we are," Pan said casually and Uub nodded. More silence filled the air before any of them could speak again. They tried to start but ended up cutting each other off and they both looked away, blushing.

"So, have you learned any new techniques yet?" Uub asked.

"Not really, just a couple of things grandpa knows, and some things I learned from dad and uncle Piccolo."

"I've only been able to learn how to fight as I was fighting master Goku. I don't know why he doesn't teach me new techniques; he mostly wants to focus on energy control and strength training. I can see how effective it's become over the years so I'm not really complaining."

Uub looked down at the water's surface and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Pan asked, glancing to the side.

"When my mama brought up my power, I couldn't stop thinking about why I have all this power in the first place. How does a boy from a small island village be born with this kind of strength? I've asked Master Goku about it a couple of times but he kept taking my mind off of it, like he wants to keep it a secret from me or something. He must know something I don't. The way I fight with him sometimes. It feels…familiar?"

"You train with him every day, of course it'll feel familiar," Pan said, smirking at him.

"It's not that, but sometimes I have this feeling, like it tingles the back of my head. Maybe the way I was fighting him or something, like I might have been fighting like this in a past life."

"I wonder what I was like in a past life, if I ever had one?" Pan asked. She lowered herself into the water so only her head stuck out and she breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the steam come up to her face. Uub lowered himself as well and eased himself more into the water.

It was then that a familiar face popped out of nowhere, appearing behind them above on the ground. Both Pan and Uub cried out and flailed back in panic. When Uub saw who it was, he got upset.

"Master! This is very inappropriate!" he cried and Pan covered herself by wrapping her arms around herself, looking away. Goku cocked an eyebrow then noticed that the two were both naked in the water and he laughed nervously.

"Sorry! I was sensing your energy and tracked you here," he said, then looked down at the hot springs.

"Oh, these remind me of the hot springs Chichi and I used to go to a long time ago before we got married!" he said and began removing his clothing. Pan covered her face in embarrassment as Uub looked on in panic.

"Master, we can get out of the spring and head back to the village, you don't have to-" but Goku was already naked and jumped into the hot springs with a cheer in his voice. He hit the water, creating a splash that hit Uub and Pan and Uub groaned a bit. He rubbed his biceps and shoulder muscles and breathed a sigh.

"Hoo! This feels good! Nothing like hot springs to rejuvenate the body!" He cried out and leaned back against the rocks. Pan couldn't bring herself to lower her hands and Goku blinked, confused.

"Hey Pan, you can look at your grandpa, can't ya?" He asked and Pan glared at him through her hands.

"Not like this, grandpa! It's hard enough as it is seeing Uub naked but I don't want my grandpa in here as well!"

Goku laughed it off. "It's okay, I'm used to it."

"Well I'm not," Pan whispered and she crossed her arms, looking away. Goku leaned forward with a curious gaze at Pan and she blushed even more.

"Stop looking at me like that!" Pan cried out and almost dove completely underwater, letting her head poke out.

"I can tell you guys are way stronger than you were a month ago. Did you manage to transform into a Super Saiyan?" he asked. Pan looked surprised for a moment but she wore her disappointment on full display in front of him.

"No. But then I felt this other power surge inside of me that was different somehow."

"Hm, that's odd," Goku said, hand to his chin. He began to think it over and he snapped his fingers.

"Ah! I think I know someone who might help you!" Goku stated and Pan looked at him, a bit stunned.

"Who might that be?" Pan asked.

"He's the old Kai who's always with the Supreme Kai in the otherworld. He has the ability to draw out dormant powers, the same way he drew out Gohan's power years ago."

"Really?" Pan's face lit up a bit.

"Yeah, I can take you to see him."

"I'd like to come too, if that's okay with you, master," Uub said, chiming in.

"Actually, I've got something special in mind for you. Remember what I said before I left a month ago?"

Uub nodded. He felt a smile cross his face as his excitement began to climb. He anticipated this new training with his master for the whole month and waited diligently for Goku to return to teach him. Goku grinned then stretched.

"I can't wait to see your village again and eat some more of your mom's delicious food though," Goku said and both Pan and Uub looked at each other.

"About that…" Uub said and Goku glanced at him.

"My mother died a couple days ago. She went to sleep but never woke up. She looked really peaceful."

Goku said nothing as the three shared a moment of silence and Uub saw how awkward this must've made him feel and he smiled.

"It's okay, master. Mother didn't want us to be sad about it and I want to dedicate myself to training even harder so I can win the tournament and use the prize money to build a small shrine in her honor at the center of the village."

"Uub…" Pan said warmly under her breath as she looked at him. She didn't anticipate such a selfless act on his part and she felt her heart beat a bit faster in her chest.

"But I can have my brothers cook for us instead, though. They learned a lot from mother and Coco hopes one day to become a great chef and tour the world," Uub said to lighten the mood and Goku nodded in anticipation.

"Alright, let's dry up and head on over there. Then I'll take you to the lookout afterwards," Goku said as he climbed out of the hot spring. Pan covered her eyes until he was out of sight and peeked to make sure he actually was. She glanced over at Uub and he too made his way out of the hot springs.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll wait here so I can get dressed privately," she said. She covered her face and eyes when she saw Uub climb out of the spring and out of curiosity took quick peek at Uub as he walked out of the water to gather his clothing. _Focus, Pan. Get your mind out of the gutter._

After she dried off and put the heavy gi back on again, she rushed to join up with Uub and Goku and they took off to the air to fly back to the village.

"Grandpa? Can I finally wear something other than this weighted gi?" She asked and Goku turned to face her as he flew in the air.

"You've worn them the whole time I was gone?" he asked and she scowled at him.

"Of course I did! I ate, slept, and did all the chores around the village wearing this and it stinks like crazy! It's not like I can get a decent bath around there anyhow."

"Most of the time we just bathe in the stream on the south side of the village," Uub said and Pan stared at him.

"There's a south side? You never told me about a south side."

"I'm sorry! I didn't think to tell you about it," Uub said and Pan sighed.

When they landed in the village, Pan quickly went to her belongings at Uub's house and closed the door behind her to change back into her regular clothes. She adjusted her mobility now that she was free of the extra weight and was surprised at how nimble she was. She walked out of the house and examined her hands, arms, legs, then took to the air. She did a few rapid combos with punches and kicks that were like a blur and she landed back down on the ground. Running around doing forward and back flips, she jumped up and down and had a look of excitement on her face.

"I feel so light, so…fast," she said and Goku chuckled, rubbing his nose.

"That's what makes the Turtle hermit school so effective," he said and Uub took the shell off his shoulders, setting it down by the house. He began to stretch and took a deep breath, then flew up to the air. He could feel a great deal more power coursing through him as he channeled the energy around him. His white aura shone brilliantly in the sky and he burst forth, breaking the sound barrier within micro-seconds. He flew so fast he circled around the planet and was back at the village mere moments after he took off. When he landed, he punched his palm with his fist and had a look of confidence on his face.

"Coco! Natta!" Uub called and his brothers popped out from behind their house. They had been working on their vegetable garden for most of the day and they rushed to greet him.

"Welcome back, big brother," Coco said and Uub nodded.

"How fast can you two cook dinner for us?" Uub asked and Natta scratched the side of his head, counting on his fingers.

"Um, let's see," he muttered to himself, then held up both hands.

"One hour," he told them and Uub raised an eyebrow.

"Natta, you're holding up ten fingers. That's not one hour," Coco said and Natta looked at his hands for a moment.

"But he's not wrong about how long it'll take though, so can you wait for us?" he told the trio and Uub ruffled the hairs on both his brothers.

"I look forward to it," he told them and the three walked over to the center of the village where a small shrine had been erected to honor their departed mother.

"She was more than just our mother. She was the matriarch of the whole village. She worked herself night and day to look after us and the rest of the village that I hope the prize money will help improve the look of this so her image can be a symbol of hard work and dedication for everyone."

"She'd probably like this as it is," Pan interjected and Uub nodded.

"I know. But I want to do something more to pay her back and honor her memory. Something that meant a great deal to her. I was thinking a statue of her and dad together with some flowers around them."

"That sounds like a great idea," Goku said and Uub smiled. Pan crouched down and looked at some of the flowers that had been left in the center of an array of rocks piled in a circle and took a closer look at one of them. It had a tropical look and smell to it, like a fresh morning rainfall. She placed it back and stood back up.

"Well, I'm going to that south side stream to wash up," Pan said and went back to retrieve a towel and her regular clothes to change into from the house.

After she left, Goku crossed his arms and had a bit more serious expression on his face.

"I think she inherited the same power as Gohan did," he said. Uub shot him a look of confusion.

"That's why I want to bring her to the old kai. He was able to unlock Gohan's potential and I think part of that went to Pan as well before she was born. If she can develop that power all the way, she won't need to transform into a Super Saiyan."

"She worked very hard for that transformation and I feel bad that she keeps coming up short," Uub said and Goku put an arm around his shoulders.

"That's what's good about training to become stronger, you discover new things about yourself that you didn't know before and you can use that to your advantage. Pan discovering this means she can realize her full potential and be ready for the Tournament."

Coco stepped out of the house for a moment and waved at Goku and Uub.

"Hey, we forgot to pick up some fresh fish earlier, can you go get some for us?" he asked.

Goku's eyes lit up. "Of course!"

"It'll give us something to do while before everyone's ready," Uub chimed in and the two took off to one of Goku's favourite fishing spots. They dove into the large river and Goku was the first to emerge with a large fish that he grabbed by the tail. Uub came up shortly afterwards with an even larger fish and Goku looked very impressed by the catch. They both came back clutching three fish in each hand and not only were Uub's brothers shocked to see the large fish, but the villagers took notice as well and couldn't believe their eyes.

"I'll get the fires started to cook these," Uub said and he and Goku started working on building what was necessary.

When Pan came back, she noticed the array of cooked fish and a pot of vegetable stew ready for her. She was surprised to see how large in size they were and Uub waved at her.

"It's been a while since I've seen fish that big," she said and Uub nodded. There was a moment of awkward silence since they couldn't think of much else to talk about.

Goku and Pan ate a lot more than Uub and his brothers and eventually the fish were nothing but bones and the pot was empty. Goku breathed a sigh and Pan leaned back as well, sighing happily as well.

"That was amazing!" Goku cried out and he chuckled a bit. Uub helped his brothers clean up as the villagers took it upon themselves to look after the discarded fish bones since they felt they could make use of something like this for themselves and Goku got up to stretch.

"Once Uub's done we can head up to the lookout," he said and Pan switched for an admiring look to a protesting one.

"Now? It's night," Pan told him.

"I know, but where we're going, day and night won't really matter a whole lot," he said, grinning down at them.

"Okay." She waited for Uub to finish and he emerged from the hut with a clean outfit that was the same as the other villagers. He placed a hand on the turtle shell one last time and grinned before he left it leaning against the side of the hut. No one in the village was able to lift it and felt this was a reminder for them that Uub would come back.

They both joined Goku at the center of the village and she took Goku's hand while holding Uub's. Goku put two fingers to his head and focused his energy on the lookout. When he could sense Piccolo, the three disappeared from the village while Coco and Natta waved at them.

After they reappeared, Piccolo broke out of his meditation to greet them.

"Uncle Piccolo!" Pan cried out, rushing to jump up and give him a hug. He smiled down at her, wrapping one arm around her before she hopped down.

"Are you here for the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" he asked them, eyeing Goku and Uub.

"Eventually," Goku said. "But for now, I'm taking Pan to see the Old Kai to get her potential unlocked. You must've felt that too, right?"

Piccolo glanced down at Pan, who blushed out of embarrassment. He closed his eyes and grinned.

"You've grown so much in such a short amount of time," he said.

"Uub, I'll need you to stay here with Piccolo for now while Pan and I go visit the Supreme Kai," Goku told him and Uub nodded.

"Good luck, Pan," he said and Pan blushed at the way he was smiling at her. Goku put two fingers to his forehead again and began sensing the Kai's energy but paused for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Pan asked.

"That's strange, I'm trying to sense the Supreme Kai but his energy feels different somehow," he said. He began to search for Kibito's energy and locked onto that one instead. When he locked on, Pan waved at Uub and Piccolo before they teleported off the Lookout. Uub turned to Piccolo and there was a long pause where he looked at him nervously, glancing around the Lookout. The Namekian still had an uneasy feeling deep in the pit of his stomach every time he looked at Uub. He hadn't seen him since Uub was a young boy fighting Goku for the first time but he knew as well as Goku who Uub used to be and sensing that incredible power dwell inside this kid still unnerved him. He had to crane his neck a bit to look up at Piccolo, given how tall the Namekian was. Piccolo eventually broke the awkward silence.

"Has Goku ever brought up your power?" he asked him.

"No," Uub said, glancing down. "Master Goku avoids it and changes the subject every time I asked him about it so I eventually gave up. He kept telling me not to worry about my power and that I should just focus on training and become stronger."

"That's Goku for you," Piccolo said, grinning a bit.

"Do you have an idea why?" Uub asked and Piccolo closed his eyes, frowning.

"I can't tell you why. But I know of a room here that will help you find the answers you're looking for. I must warn you though, you might not like what you discover and could grow to resent your power. Are you sure you want to know the truth?"

Uub nodded, a very serious expression on his face.

"Yes, sir. I have to know. I _need_ to know. I can't realize my full potential if I don't know what kind of power I have and I'll face whatever challenge you bring me to understand it."

"Very well. Follow me," Piccolo said and he led Uub into the main structure of the Lookout. Dende and Mr. Popo were conferring with each other on something when they saw the two walk in and they froze for a moment when they saw Uub. Uub glanced and cocked an eyebrow.

"Did I do something wrong?" Uub asked. Dende and Popo relaxed their gaze.

"My apologies, Uub, I meant no offense," Dende told him.

"Can you take us to the time Room?" Piccolo asked him. Dende quickly figured out what Piccolo meant and nodded.

"Of course. Mr. Popo, if you would," Dende said and Popo gladly motioned the two further ahead.

"Uub wish to understand secret of his power?" Popo asked and Uub didn't say anything. He stared determinedly ahead at Mr. Popo as he led the two to the Time Room.

When the three arrived, Popo opened a set of double doors to a darkened room. In the middle, Uub saw a glowing glyph etched on the floor with strange runes inscribed around a circle that had overlapping triangles inside. A large pendulum swung from side to side that showed no signs of slowing down, swinging infinitely as the endless quiet sounds of clockwork could be heard from the darkness. The only source of light Uub could see came from the doorway and the glow of the glyph on the floor. Popo motioned with his hand to the center of the room where the glyph lay and closed the doors behind them.

"Past, present, and future. All come together in this room. Whoever step foot on glyph will take spiritual journey to a period of time; either in past, or in future according to how strong spirit is. If you still want to go, step here."

"What will I see when I go?" Uub asked.

"No one knows," Popo told him. "Goku went many times while training here as young boy of your age."

Piccolo closed his eyes, smiling. He remembered the first time he met Goku on his quest to avenge his father conquer the world for the demon clan. He was hellbent on defeating him and subjugating the world's population under his rule but couldn't achieve that victory. So much time had passed and so many things had changed for him that he felt more grateful to Goku for helping him become stronger that becoming his ally rather than his rival felt more genuine to him.

Uub took a deep breath and stepped forward to the center of the glyph.

"Close eyes and focus mind and spirit. When opened again, will be in different place and time. Good luck on journey," Popo told him and Uub closed his eyes. The glyph began to glow brighter as the pendulum slowed down, yet it maintained its constant motion. Uub could feel the room begin to spin in his mind and energy began to cascade down from the tip of the pendulum to the glyph on the floor and within seconds, Uub disappeared from the glyph.

 **Elsewhere…**

Kibito picked apart some dead leaves from one of the trees on the Supreme Kai homeworld. He examined each branch and took down each leaf that had withered and died out, plucking them off the branch to put in a bag tied around his waist. He was tall enough to reach the higher branches so it wasn't as hard for him to work on. The Supreme Kai sat by the base of the tree reading a book and taking an occasional bite from an apple.

When Goku and Pan appeared, the two glanced up and they were a bit taken aback at first. Then the Supreme Kai relaxed and stood up.

"I never expected you to visit us, Goku. It's great to see you again," he told him and Goku looked back, puzzled.

"Huh? Where's the Supreme Kai?" he asked and the Kai cleared his throat, pointing at himself.

"That is the Supreme Kai," Kibito told him and Goku looked back, shocked.

"Whoa! Did you get a new one? Did something happen to Shin?" Goku asked and the Kai chuckled a bit.

"Allow me to explain. After the Tournament of Power, Beerus and I committed to working on improving our Universe's mortal rating so we could please the Omni Kings. However, Beerus felt I should take my role more seriously and made a request to use the Namekian Dragonballs to separate the Old Kai and the Witch, using Porunga's second wish to transfer the witch's abilities to the Old Kai, despite her protests. Beerus promptly destroyed the witch after she started making affectionate gestures at him. It was then that he ordered both him and me to fuse together with our Potara and I've since gained the amount of experience and wisdom that my ancestor had. I go by Shinkai now."

"No way! So, you're still able to unlock someone's potential, right?" Goku asked.

"Of course. Is this young girl the one you intend on participating in the ritual?"

Goku nudged Pan forward. She glanced nervously at Shinkai and waved at him shyly.

"H-hello, Mr. Shinkai," she said calmly, blushing out of embarrassment. The Supreme Kai examined her as he walked around her.

"Interesting, I never thought this was possible but you definitely inherited Gohan's potential when you were conceived."

"Really?!" She cried out, excited. Shinkai nodded, smiling.

"Absolutely. While you still have the potential to become a Super Saiyan, I believe that when I'm done with you, you won't need to. It will still feel the same way but you'll gain an incredible amount of power, much like it was with your father. You'll need a proper outfit for this as well," he said and extended his hand. Pan's clothing changed to that of a Kai's outfit and she grabbed the fabric to get a closer look.

"I gotta wear this? Geez. No offense, sir, but this looks really silly on me," she said and noticed that earrings had been attached to her earlobes as well. "I do like the earrings though."

"Ahem," Shinkai said, clearing his throat and giving Pan a look. She paused and stood still, a little unnerved.

"To begin, I'll need you to stand perfectly still while I initiate the ritual. This will take several hours so you'll need to be patient," he told her and her eyes widened.

"But what if I need to use the bathroom?" she asked.

"There aren't any," Shinkai said and corrected her posture. "No slouching."

"Y-yes, sir," she said and looked over at Goku with a pleading gaze on her face.

"You'll be fine, don't worry! Just trust the Supreme Kai!" Goku said and waved at her, walking over to Kibito. He sat down at the base of the tree and watched as Shinkai began clearing some distance from Pan. He began to walk clockwise around her in a strange walking pattern, shimmying and shaking his arms and legs as he walked. Pan stared at him, a little disturbed and perplexed.

"Seriously?" She stated.

"No talking!" Shinkai cried out and Pan let out a squeak from her throat, standing at attention.

Goku meanwhile walked around the planet, sometimes flying around to get a better view. He occasionally stopped to help Kibito with his work and would eventually lie back down against the tree for a nap. When he woke up again, Shinkai was still busy with his strange walk as he circled around Pan and he almost forgot how boring it looked when Gohan had to endure the ritual. He yawned again and went back to sleep.

When Shinkai completed another lap, he stopped and cleared his throat. Pan glanced back at him.

"So has my potential been unlocked yet?" she asked him.

"Goodness no, that was just the ritual to prepare for the main event!" Shinkai told her and she almost fell down. She glared at him.

"Do you realize how much this kills my feet and legs standing like this?" she yelled at him and Shinkai ignored it.

"The younger they are, the more they complain," he muttered and sat down on the ground in front of her. He stared up at her and cleared his throat.

"You need to sit down as well," he said and Pan plopped down on the ground, breathing a sigh of relief. The kai cleared his throat again and she stared back, annoyed, adjusting her seating posture. He extended his arms forward and opened his hands towards Pan.

"So how long is this going to take?" she asked.

"However long depends on how much potential is there. The longer you keep talking though, the longer this will take," he said and she glared at him in silence as he conjured a graphic novel in front of him and began to read. Pan scoffed and crossed her arms, looking away. _This is so embarrassing; I'm glad Bulla doesn't get to see this._

 **Facing the past…**

Uub opened his eyes and saw the landscape comprised of a civilization on a distant planet. He took in the sights and saw that he was standing on a cliff face looking down into a remote area. The rocky terrain served as a makeshift staircase and he cautiously climbed down the cliff using jutted rocks as footholds.

Uub suppressed his energy as he reached the ground below and looked up at the various buildings ahead. They had a strange marking on them, the letter "M" painted in an odd way on the front of each of them. One of the lights in a nearby building lit up red, and Uub stopped. He took cover on the side of the opposite building to watch what's going on. The large door rose open from the ground and a procession of individuals all came out, carrying large boxes slightly bigger than a humanoid male. He saw that these workers too had the letter "M" on their foreheads, the same design as those of the buildings. He watched them turn right and walk down the main street and he frowned. _I'm sensing a lot of evil energy coming from them. Where are they going?_

He walked slowly, treading carefully as he kept a good distance from the group of workers, too busy with their load to pay attention to anything behind them. Uub followed but had to stop as more doors were opening from the other buildings ahead and he took shelter, crouching low behind a steel barrel.

More of the same kind of workers, an alien species that looked frog-like in appearance, were hauling several more of the same containers out of the buildings. Uub figured this might be some sort of warehouse district with large storage hangars for cargo based on the size of the buildings around them. He looked at the workers again and his expression became more serious. _Something about this feels way off. I sense evil energy but it's like they're not the ones emitting it._

He waited for the new set of workers to create some distance before he moved on further. Uub noticed that the trail they were following led outside of the warehouse district and into a large truck with tank treads for wheels. The workers began loading the large boxes into the back of this truck, passing them to a couple of the workers who were inside to organize them. When they loaded the last box, the truck's engine began to rumble.

When it began to pull away, the workers began to cry out in pain, holding their heads. Uub stared at them in horror as he watched them convulse.

"What the-?" Uub muttered to himself. The M's on the worker's foreheads began to glow red and their bodies began to vibrate and throb outward. He cried out in shock as the workers began to expand in size and they eventually burst, body parts raining everywhere in the area. Uub shielded himself from the ugly debris and when he stared back, he gasped at the horrific sight of death painted all over the place. Uub's expression grew angry as he stared at the truck rolling on ahead. _Someone did this to them. That M on their foreheads has to mean something._

He took to the air and caught up to the truck as it was speeding down a desert road towards a large city. He flew up higher in the air and cautiously observed the truck as it entered the city limits.

The city itself was a hotspot for activity; flashing lights from one building indicated it might be some sort of entertainment center while other buildings and skyscrapers had several lights on in various rooms from top to bottom.

Uub kept his focus on the truck as it sped down through the streets and made a few quick sharp turns to stop at one of the tallest buildings in the middle of the city. Uub landed on the roof of a nearby building and looked down at the truck as it stopped.

A large door opened and a couple of the same alien workers guarding the front ushered the truck in and Uub burst from the roof to the front of the guards and sped past them before the door closed behind him. The workers couldn't react in time as Uub darted forth and they looked around, confused.

Uub followed it down a spiraling tunnel several floors deep and stopped at a gate, which lifted to let it pass. He jumped over the gate after it had lowered again and hid behind a large support pillar as the truck parked.

They watched a group of different looking aliens that bore the same letter "M" on their foreheads walk over to the back of the truck and they opened the back door. One by one the containers were being unloaded onto a large trolley which was able to hold at least a dozen of those boxes. Once the first trolley was loaded, they pulled it to a large freight elevator and it began to go upwards. Uub observed the numbers and saw that it eventually stopped on the 25th floor, which would indicate that it was the top floor of the building, while they were somewhere on the 5th basement level of the tower.

A few minutes went by as the rest of the cargo was being loaded on the trolley and eventually the truck was empty. _If I can find a way to get up there, I could find the source of this evil energy._

He wasn't aware of the security camera above, pointed down at the area. Uub flew back out the other way via the spiraling tunnel and burst through the large door. Yet as soon as he emerged through the door, several aliens were standing by, aiming blaster cannons at him.

"Who are you and what were you doing down there?" asked one of them and Uub remained silent.

"Master Bibidi doesn't appreciate interlopers snooping around here, kid," said another and they took aim with their blasters. _Bibidi? That name sounds familiar somehow._

Uub ignored his thoughts for now and powered up, rushing the first two and knocking them out with a kick to the face on the left one and a roundhouse to the right one. The others opened fire but he dodged their blasts with ease.

After he knocked them out, he sighed. "So much for stealth," he muttered to himself. He looked up at the tower. It too had a large "M" on the front of it and he felt angry looking at it.

"That 'M' is starting to get on my nerves," he said, clenching his fists. _Maybe this Bibidi is connected to that letter M and these people. What if he was the one who made those workers burst?_

He felt even more anxious as he walked toward the building entrance and took a look around. The interior of the building had an ominous feeling to it as several dead people were strewn across the room; none of them had the mark on their foreheads like the other aliens did. Uub stepped over one of the bodies and made his way to the elevators up ahead. He had never seen so many corpses before in his life but steeled his nerves and moved onward.

Uub pushed the up button on one of the elevators and a ding sound was heard afterwards. One of the lights lit up and the elevator's doors opened. He stepped in and pressed the button for the 25th floor after the doors closed.

Uub took a fighting stance, prepping himself for what awaited him when the elevator stopped. He felt his energy rise quickly inside him. When the doors opened, he rushed out but saw that no one was there. Uub looked around confused and started to run around the floor, looking at each door. He couldn't sense much from what was inside the rooms and began to expand his senses to track the evil energy and noticed that it was coming from the end of a hallway to his right. When he peeked around the corner, he could see a set of double doors with the same M painted on them, one half on each side, split down the middle where the doors would open.

Uub approached carefully and checked the handles; the door was sealed shut. He tried to force the doors open but they wouldn't budge. He then barged into the doors with his shoulders but there was no give to them. He sighed as he put his hand against the door and recoiled when he felt an intense wave of pure malevolence emanating from the door. _Looks like this Bibidi sealed this door shut to keep outsiders away. I think a powerful enough blast might blow these doors away._

He took a few steps back and cupped his hands together, bringing them to his side. He began channeling energy within the cupped hands.

"Ka…me…ha…me…" he said, the ball of energy growing bigger. He cried out an unleashed a large blue wave of energy that hit the doors hard enough to unhinge them, eventually sending them both flying back. He ran into the room shortly afterwards and saw that it resembled a large auditorium, yet there were no seats. In the center of the room was a large machine that held a giant brown ball that resembled a wrinkled coconut ball. He didn't notice it at first as he spotted the containers from the truck affixed to the walls around the auditorium set up by the workers. A small lone figure stood in the center of the room in front of the giant ball, a green-skinned alien creature with some sort of black head covering that bore the same ominous letter "M" on the front. The small creature paid no attention to him as he continued to observe the workers setting up the final containers in place and one of the workers walked over to him and bowed at him.

"Master Bibidi, we've finished affixing the final container, you may begin now," he said and Bibidi giggled ominously.

"Excellent work, my servants. Your services are no longer required," he said and turned his head slightly, glancing back at Uub. Uub looked back in shock as the creature's face looked more prominent. _I've seen this face before, but how?_

"However, I still do need you to kill the interloper who broke down my doors," Bibidi said and the workers turned to Uub and began flying towards him.

Uub took up his fighting stance again and engaged the workers flying towards him. It didn't take long for Uub to make quick work of them, knocking each of them out with a single blow from either a punch or a kick, sometimes catching one of them and throwing them at the other. They both landed in front of Bibidi and Uub raised his arm to charge an energy blast at his face. Bibidi put his hands behind his back and smiled devilishly at him.

"It seems you possess some skill. It's a shame I can't make use of your power. I can't detect the slightest trickle of evil in you. No matter, I suppose the alternative will do."

"What?!" Uub said and his hand began to shake. He felt an incredible sense of dread and uneasiness in the pit of his stomach and he gritted his teeth. _Why does this look so familiar? Have I been here before? Why does it feel like I know all this?_

Uub clenched his fists and glared at Bibidi angrily.

"Who are you, Bibidi?!" Uub said angrily and Bibidi laughed.

"I am the Warlock who will plunge the very universe into utter chaos! You insects will be the first to witness the glory of Majin Buu!"

Uub gasped when he heard the name. Bibidi raised his arms up in the air and the containers opened to reveal hundreds of different alien species attached to tubes, which connected to the machine that housed the giant ball. Uub looked up at the ball for the first time and he felt a rush of memories flood his mind. _How am I remembering this? How?!_

Bibidi laughed and floated over to him. "Majin Buu will make quick work of you and then eviscerate every single life form that stands in his way. Then I will invade the land of the Kais and exterminate them as well, thus killing the God of Destruction and have Majin Buu take his place. Oooh, how glorious it will be!"

Uub glared at him, anger boiling inside him.

"I won't let you do that!" he said and charged at Bibidi, who put up a barrier to block one of his punches and the impact ricocheted off the barrier and Uub flew back a few feet. He flew again to Bibidi and the Warlock raised his hands.

"Paparrapa!" he cried out and Uub stopped moving. He grunted as he floated, frozen in the air.

"Know your place and stay where you are. You won't interrupt the ritual, not now that I'm so close." Bibidi said and laughed as he floated back to the giant ball in the middle of the room and raised his hands.

"Dammit…" Uub said through his teeth and glared at Bibidi who had a blood red aura surround him. The bodies that were in the containers all woke up and started screaming in unison. Uub couldn't help but hear their cries of suffering as their life essence was drained from them.

"Gaze upon the gracious volunteers who will sacrifice themselves to usher in your new God of Destruction, Majin Buu!" Bibidi said, laughing. Uub screamed and overcame the magic that was binding him and flew straight at Bibidi but stopped when he noticed the large ball began to glow from the inside.

Bibidi focused all of his energy as the ball glowed a bright pink, pulsating and beating like a heart.

"I have to stop this," Uub said and he charged up another Kamehameha to fire at the giant ball. The impact didn't seem to do much as Uub looked on in shock and the ball split open, the two halves falling down.

Uub's face grew pale as he saw what was emerging from inside. A cloud of pink smoke coalesced from the middle of the ball and began to solidify into a pink child-like creature with a strange antennae on his head, holes on top of his head and arms, and a pair of white baggy trousers with the same black "M" on the front embedded on a gold plate. The creature's eyes were closed and Bibidi giggled malevolently.

"Welcome back, Majin Buu," Bibidi said and Uub breathed heavily in fear. _I have to get out of here._

"Where do you think you're going?" Bibidi sneered as he noticed Uub backing away to turn around. He motioned to Buu.

"Buu, your first order is to kill this spineless insect that stands before you."

Buu still had his eyes closed and Bibidi grew impatient.

"Buu! I'm giving you an order! Kill him, now!"

Buu opened one of his eyes and looked over at Bibidi, then at Uub. Bibidi chuckled as he saw that Buu took notice and floated over to his side.

"Yes Buu, do whatever you want with this one," Bibidi said, savoring each moment of his success as he looked at Uub.

Uub felt a great deal of fear as he looked at the creature's face. Pure black eyes with red irises stared right back at him and Uub felt the dread consume him as he began to panic. _It's like…it's like I'm staring in a mirror yet what I'm seeing is not my reflection…but him._

He continued to look at Buu and then the image of Goku appeared in his mind. But Goku wasn't dressed in his blue gi, his gi looked different. He saw him sending a huge ball of blue white energy towards him at intense speed. He felt a great sense of panic as this large ball of energy looked to destroy him and he remembered putting his hands up against it, trying to push it back towards Goku. Then he remembered hearing Goku say something before the memory faded. _I hope you come back as a good person this time, Buu. I want to fight you again someday._

He could sense Buu's energy and the sensation was immediate. It was the exact same feeling whenever he sensed his own power. But this energy was saturated in pure darkness and chaos, as this entity of malice began to grin, baring his teeth at him. He titled his head to one side and grinned maliciously. Uub took a deep breath and composed himself, shaking off his nerves.

Buu tilted his head to the other side and then back up to a neutral position and he let out a deafening scream. The whole room shook and the walls began to crack heavily as the output of energy from Buu pushed Uub back but he stood his ground, shielding his face. Uub glared at Buu with ferocity and Bibidi had to hold himself in place with another of his barriers. Buu pounded his chest, howling like an ape. Uub looked on in confusion and quickly regained his focus and he let loose a large energy blast straight at Buu. The energy blast pierced through Buu and he stood, confused, then the hole closed itself and he resumed pounding his chest and hooted. Uub darted forward and struck Buu with a hard punch that made a huge dent in Buu's face which stopped his movement for a moment, yet the pink demonic being resumed pounding his chest. Uub continued striking Buu with heavy blows that created deep dents in the creature's body and he sent Buu flying back with a kick. He turned to Bibidi who was laughing at him behind his barrier.

"Your attacks are useless against Buu. You'll only delay your death as you continue," he said and Uub screamed in anger, rushing towards Buu. He connected with a roundhouse kick to Buu's head and it stretched out from the rest of his body towards the wall. The head turned to face Uub and Buu smiled maliciously, using his hands to fire energy blasts at Uub. Uub deflected the blasts as Buu's head retracted back to his body and he struck Uub with a headbutt, sending him flying back to the opposite wall. Uub steadied himself as he flew back and landed on the wall with his feet, narrowly dodging one of Buu's energy blasts. Uub launched himself at Buu by pushing himself from the wall and he went for a punch to Buu, but it was caught with his hand. He planted a kick in Uub's midsection and stretched the leg out to push him back into the wall, then retracted his body back to de-stretch his leg and he struck Uub with a head-butt to the face and Uub collapsed to his knees, clutching his mid-section.

"Come on, Uub, keep it together. You've got to be stronger than this thing," he muttered and stood back up. He powered up again and both he and Buu charged straight at each other. They traded blows, blocked each other's shots and Uub began to even the fight as it progressed. He blasted Buu with an energy ball that sent him flying back but Buu stretched his body out like a kite to send the ball back to Uub and Uub deflected it away from him, letting it crash into the ceiling. Buu pulled his arms and legs in tightly to make himself look like a ball and he shot forth down at Uub. This caught him off guard and he didn't anticipate how random Buu's movements were as he bounced around the room like a rubber ball.

Uub looked back and forth at where Buu was heading and he bounced off a wall behind him and Uub barely blocked Buu as he came behind him, knocking him off balance. Buu flew back and bounced off the wall again, striking Uub even harder on the rebound and Uub steadied himself from falling down. Buu stopped and stretched his arms and legs back out and raised his hands in the air, conjuring a large energy ball. Uub's eyes widened and he positioned himself with his hands cupped together.

Buu launched the energy ball at Uub and Uub responded with a Kamehameha that hit the ball. The beam kept the ball in place as Buu smiled down at him, flicking his hands forward to make the ball grow bigger and push the beam back down at Uub.

Uub cried out and channeled more power into the energy beam and began to push back the energy ball to Buu. Buu's face contorted to a more concerned look and he began to struggle to push back. Eventually, Uub was able to send both the energy ball back and the energy beam to Buu and to him, it looked like it vaporized Buu completely.

Uub could feel the pain in his limbs and face as he fell to one knee and his eyes widened in horror as he could see pink goo fly inward together to reform itself. He could only smile at himself as he looked down at the floor. _I understand now. Why Master Goku saw so much potential in me when we first met. He must've known I had this power because he fought this creature. But I don't know how to defeat this. I'm sorry, Master._

After Buu completely reformed himself, he laughed as he pelted Uub with more energy blasts. Uub cried out in pain as they pelted him and his vision began to fade to black.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the Time Room. He stared down at the strange glyph on the floor and the pendulum swinging in the background. He saw that Piccolo and Popo were standing there waiting for him and he looked down at his hands and felt his body for injuries, to which there was none.

"How long was I gone for?" he asked.

"You just closed your eyes a minute ago," Piccolo said and Uub's eyes widened. _A minute?!_

"What happened to me? I thought I was dead," he stated and could still remember each impact of Buu's strikes and energy blasts pelting his body to oblivion.

"Physical body remained in room. Only mind and spirit went on journey," Popo told him and Uub blinked.

"I see," he said and walked out of the room. When he made his way back out of the main building, he stared off into the distance.

"I was once the same as Majin Buu?" he said, staring down at the ground. Piccolo stood behind him with his arms crossed.

"You are the reincarnation of the evil half of Buu, the one who is friends with Hercule. You understand now why we still have some degree of apprehension when we saw you."

"Yes, I suppose so. But how am I still able to remember being that thing? I remember Goku attacking me with some giant ball of energy."

Piccolo and Dende looked at each other with a bit of worry on their faces.

"That's not supposed to be possible, Uub." Dende told him. "When Buu was sent to Hell, all of his evil energy and memories were wiped clean. When King Yemma reincarnated you as a human, you were able to retain Buu's power but this time with a pure clean soul. I don't understand how some of Buu's memories remain."

Uub nodded. He sighed and clenched his fists.

"They feel more like echoes than memories. I can't explain much more than that, I'm afraid. I trained hard with Master Goku for so many years yet when I fought that evil version of Buu I was a joke to him. How can I be sure I'll beat the good version at the Tournament?" Uub asked. He remembered long ago when he first met Goku that he also met Buu for the first time. A smiling rotund pink creature with an antenna on his head, with holes along the top and on his arms, wearing yellow boxing gloves and a pink cape. Uub was sort of amused by how Buu looked to him but all the hustle and bustle of the crowds and the staff everywhere made him feel uncomfortable and disoriented until he started fighting Goku. Seeing a pure evil version of that Buu creature from his spiritual journey made him freeze for a moment and Piccolo put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention back.

"You still have plenty of time for training once we make use of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber," Piccolo told him and Uub nodded.

Some time had passed and Uub and Piccolo were having a light sparring session. Goku and Pan re-appeared back on the Lookout and Goku glanced up to see the two.

"Hey! We're back!" Goku cried out and the two stopped in mid-air before trading blows. Uub landed near Goku and greeted him politely for a moment but took one look at Pan and he wasn't sure what to make of her get-up. She looked away, embarrassed and Uub chuckled a bit.

"I like your outfit, it looks interesting," he said and Pan blushed.

"I hate it, it looks so tacky. Uncle Piccolo, can you change my outfit? Something like yours?" she asked him and Piccolo nodded, pointing a finger at Pan. He shot a beam of light and Pan's clothes changed to match Piccolo's purple gi. She giggled as she felt the fabric and gave Uub a victory sign.

"This isn't as heavy as that gi you had me wear, grandpa," she told Goku. Uub's expression changed as he looked up at Goku.

"Master, I-"

"What's up?"

"He knows the truth, Goku," Piccolo stated and Goku's eyes lit up a bit, then paused. Uub stared down, unable to look his Master in the eye. He clenched his fists and began to shake. Goku could hear the boy sobbing a bit and Pan looked on, concerned. She shooed Goku and Piccolo away and walked Uub down the hall in the opposite direction. When they were both alone, Uub had a hand to his face and he fell to his knees, shaking.

"I'm the reincarnation of Buu. I've killed billions of people and destroyed planets and I can still see Buu's memories echo into my own," Uub said through his tears and Pan put her hands on the kid's shoulders.

"But that's not who you are, Uub. You can't control what you did in the past," she told him and Uub stared up at her, despair filling his eyes as the tears flowed freely down.

"Why would Master Goku want to bring such a thing back? I wish I had never been reincarnated from that _thing_. To have my mother carry that inside of her and give birth to that, wearing my face. I can't…Pan, I can't…"

"Uub…" Pan said and took Uub's hand into hers. She rushed to hug him and he held on tightly, breaking down and sobbing loudly.

He let himself go and cried in Pan's arms for what seemed like hours but only a few minutes passed by. His crying wasn't just from learning the truth about himself but out of grief for the loss of his mother. Pan soothed him by stroking his head and back as he shook and she held him as Videl held her when she broke down like this. This felt comfortable, hugging her friend like this. She realized that she was comfortable saying that about Uub, that he was her friend and she wanted him to know that. When he finally calmed himself down, she lifted his head in her hands to look up at her and he wiped his face.

"Uub, I don't know what happened in there but I know I see a really great person who loves his family and his village and will do everything in his power to protect them. I don't see a horrible monster that killed people and destroyed planets. I see my friend. That's all that matters to me, Uub," she told him and Uub blinked. She kissed him on the forehead and he stood up, taking a deep breath.

"Thank you, Pan," Uub said. Pan's eyes lit up as she realized something. She grabbed hold of her crotch to keep herself from leaking out and she bent her knees together slightly.

"I'm sorry, but where's the bathroom?! I need to go really badly!" she cried out.

"Oh, I think it was the third door on the right when you go in," Uub told her and she dashed right by.

"Thank you!" she yelled and turned around the corner inside the building.

Goku and Piccolo were out in the main area, standing in between the palm trees and flower gardens.

"You knew Uub had to find out the truth sooner or later. It was his decision to enter the Time Room," Piccolo told him and Goku grinned. He was hoping that Uub would've never found out about his horrible past but realized that there were things he had no control over and somewhat felt relieved to have the burden of keeping this a secret from Uub off his chest.

"It hurts but I think this was the best way for him to find out. It'll motivate him to be an even stronger fighter now and have a chance to live a life different from the life he used to have as Buu. You can see it in the way he acts around others."

"I hope so, Goku. Not everyone is prepared to face their true self and accept it," Piccolo said, a subtle reminder of the demon clansman that Goku looked at from all those years ago. Goku gave him that same determined smile he gave to anyone when he felt assured of himself.

"Being able to have both the good Buu and the reincarnated evil Buu as a good person on this planet makes things a bit easier for me. I can go back to my training knowing that Earth's in good hands."

Excitement rose in Goku's voice now. "I can't wait to have my re-match after so long. Uub will have all the training and then some in the Chamber!"

"I was in there before, wasn't I?" Uub said as he approached Goku and Piccolo, surprising them. Goku could see the red eyes from all the tears he had shed and frowned. Piccolo shot him a warning look.

"It isn't wise for you to remember all the things you once did as Majin Buu, Uub," he told him and Uub glanced down at the ground.

"It shouldn't get in the way," he said with a hint of uncertainty in his voice and Goku wanted to say something but Pan came running out.

"Never again!" she yelled and Goku couldn't help but laugh. She gave him a look but sighed.

"So where do we go from here?" she asked and Goku put his fist on top of his open palm.

"To the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to train for a few months," he said and Pan's eyebrows rose a bit. She heard Piccolo mention that name earlier and she dismissed it but now this got her curiosity when Goku mentioned how much time they were going to spend.

"What do you mean a few months? What he heck's a Hyperwhatsit?"

"It's a special room where a whole year goes by in there while only a day passes by out here. We can wrap up the remainder of the training while we're in there and then we can take it easy afterwards until the day of the Tournament. There's something I've been meaning to teach Uub for a while and I feel he's ready to learn it now."

"There is?" Uub said, starting to feel excited. "I can't wait to see what new technique you want to teach me, Master!"

Pan was equally awestruck and stared at the three. When she stopped at Uub, she went red in the face again, sighing happily. _So many months in the same place with Uub._

Uub looked at her puzzled as she gazed at him and took a deep breath. He felt his emotions were starting to be under control again and he looked very much forward to the rest of this training with Goku, learning a new technique.

"I can't wait to get started so I can test my full potential out!" Pan cried out, clenching her fists. As Uub was excited to learn something new, Pan wanted to show the three of them how much power had been unlocked by the Supreme Kai and thought of ways to improve her fighting style. She ran through some ideas in her head and counted them on her fingers as she stared up pensively. Piccolo cleared his throat to get her attention and she paused.

"Having a lot of power won't do a whole lot of good if you don't know how to handle yourself in a fight," Piccolo told her and both he and Goku nodded in agreement.

They all started walking towards the building entrance, yet Goku raised his hand in the air.

"Ah, wait a moment!" he said and they all turned to face him.

"Can we eat something first? I haven't eaten anything since we left Uub's village!" he told them and Piccolo sighed annoyingly, closing his eyes. Uub could feel that he was hungry as well and Pan only just realized it herself after being so focused on the Supreme Kai's ritual.

After they ate, they reached the door of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Popo opened the door for the four of them.

"Everything we need will be provided for us while in there but we should be careful not to destroy the room," Goku said as he led Pan and Uub inside, Popo closing the door behind Piccolo as he entered last.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – "Kelerot escapes from Universe 11! 'I'm sorry, Master.'"**

 **Capsule Corporation…**

Bulma, with some persuasion from her daughter, agreed to help rebuild Android 16. Bulla brought the chassis that she constructed herself and they used that to put the finishing touches.

They grafted new skin on top of the endoskeleton structure and managed to match 16's facial features and hair as accurate as possible, yet this new look had a more youthful appearance than what Bulma remembered when she and her father worked on him. He looked more like a boy barely into his adolescence with a slimmer body.

Bulma knew that she'd have to work from scratch in programming 16's A.I. script but seemed pleased that the engine that he was running on was a far superior model than the previous version, which provided more endurance and capabilities for armaments. It would only be through vigorous testing that they'd get a general idea of what kind of robot they wanted this new Android 16 to become.

When he was completed, they suited him up in an outfit of Bulma's design, with less bulky armor plating but a sleeker design that adhered to his form. Bulma glossed over the finished product one last time and she and Bulla looked at each other, then high-fived each other. Bulla embraced her mother afterwards.

"Thank you so much, mom," she told her and Bulma ruffled her hair.

"Anytime, kiddo."

"Let's switch him on and see if the programming worked," Bulla said and Bulma sat back down at her computer.

"Alright, switching on now," Bulma said and entered a few keystrokes on her computer. The eyes of the new Android opened up and he looked around the room. A set of blinking lights could be seen in his irises as he was processing his surroundings. He glanced over and saw Bulla standing beside him with a smile on her face.

"Hi," she told him. He didn't respond and Bulla looked over at Bulma.

"We did give him the ability to speak, didn't we?" she asked.

"Affirmative," the android said, stunning her a bit.

"I'm sorry!" Bulla cried, taking a step back. Bulma chuckled a bit and stood up. The android sat up on the table and got a better view of the room.

"What is my designation?" he said, staring at Bulla.

"Designation, like a name?" she asked. He didn't respond and Bulla looked to her mother.

"I thought we already gave him a name, didn't we?" she asked her.

"We just built him. It was probably the same with Dr. Gero when he built him for the first time. These robots are learning machines so you have to treat them like they're children. They need to learn everything for the first time. His A.I. script is basic, but with enough time we can program all the essential information through instruction and repetition."

"What is my designation?" the android asked again and Bulla crossed her arms, pondering.

"Well, you were originally an android named 16, so why don't we just keep calling you 16?" she told him.

"Understood," android 16 said. Bulla offered her hand to him.

"Why don't I show you around the place? We'll get you familiarized with your new home," she told him and he stared at her arm.

"It's okay," she reassured him and took his hand. She had to lead him off the table to stand him up and his height matched hers. He looked at her, waiting for further instructions.

"I've never built a robot before, but I assume there's a lot of things we need to work on at first. Walking for instance," Bulma told her, putting an arm on her shoulder.

"I can handle that part, no problem. Will he be fully functional by the start of the Tournament?" Bulla asked.

"If you can get him up to speed in four months, then I'd say you have a good chance. But don't let this keep you from your training."

Bulla had a grim look on her face. "What will dad say when he sees this?"

"Leave that to me," Bulma said with a grin on her face. She let out a yawn and Android 16 glanced over at her curiously.

"We have been working on him a lot, haven't we?" she said.

"The coffee's not helping so I'm going to bed. Take good care of him, Bulla, you got that?" she told her and walked out of the room. 16 kept his gaze on her until he left the room before shifting his focus on Bulla.

"I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Bulla, and that was my mother, Bulma. We were the ones who built you," she said.

"Understood," 16 said. "Who is Doctor Gero? What is a Tournament?"

"One question at a time," Bulla told him, holding her hands up. She crossed her arms and had to think this over.

"Well, I don't know who Doctor Gero is, that's something my mother would know. A Tournament is where people gather to fight each other to win a prize. You really are a blank slate, aren't you?"

"What is a blank slate?" 16 asked and Bulla sighed nervously.

"Why don't we just work on your motor functions first before we get to your education," Bulla stated.

"Affirmative, Miss Bulla," 16 stated.

"You don't have to call me Miss Bulla. Just Bulla is good enough," she told him.

"Affirmative, Just Bulla," 16 said and Bulla sighed even more.

She spent the next few days teaching 16 hand-eye coordination, walking, running, jumping, dressing and undressing, and improving his speech. The staff at Capsule Corporation grew to enjoy his company around the compound.

She hasn't been able to curb his protocol when addressing her so she eventually got used to being "miss Bulla" to him. She felt confident that he'd be ready to help her train and she's been developing an idea while helping him adjust. She led him to the gravity room and the doors slid open to let them inside. 16 examined the room and set his sights on the machine in the center.

"What does this device do, Miss Bulla?" he asked her.

"It controls the gravity in the room. It can go as high as five-hundred times earth's gravity. That's the threshold mom and grandpa were able to calculate before there was a bit of an accident and the whole section of this building caved in from the intense gravity. Thankfully the machine shut off as the place collapsed. Papa wasn't happy that they delayed his training and went to visit Whis and Beerus while we fixed it. I got very familiar with the machine over the last couple of months and I discovered Papa's special training program."

She brought a bag with her that contained a few cables, connecting one end to a port in the main terminal of the gravity machine. She nudged 16 to turn around so he would face the other way.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm going to copy the training program into your memory banks so you will have the same functions as the program does. This will help me prepare for the tournament by making you my sparring partner."

16 turned around to face her. "You desire to fight me, miss Bulla?"

"Not exactly. Training and sparring are different from fighting. Ah, how can I explain this. Sparring means that we're not fighting for real but helping ourselves become better at fighting by figuring out mistakes or develop new techniques."

"Understood. Were you training me as well when you built me?" 16 asked and Bulla grinned at him.

"In a way, yes. But most of the credit goes to mom for helping me build you."

"You have helped me function better, Miss Bulla," 16 told her and Bulla blushed.

"It…it's nothing, really. Turn around."

16 faced the other way again and she found the port in the back of his head to plug in the other end of the cable. She then went to the computer terminal on the machine and booted up her father's training program. Over 100 levels of training simulations were downloaded from the computer into 16's memory core and his eyes blinked as the new data was being installed. She noticed that it was taking a while considering how much data there was so she started doing some exercises to warm-up. He watched her work-out but said nothing, his expression neutral. When the download was complete, he blinked a few times.

"Download successful," he said and Bulla nipped back up onto her feet. She unplugged the cable from 16's head and from the computer terminal and put them back into her bag. She did a few final stretches before assuming a fighting stance.

"Alright, I've been waiting a very long time for this moment. I've already done up to level 10 so far. 16, access level 11 for me and begin when you're ready."

"Acknowledged, Miss Bulla," 16 said and his eyes flickered a red light as he accessed his new program and he assumed a fighting stance himself. His CPU communicated the data from the training program into the rest of his body and he opened fire with a few energy blasts that Bulla deflected. She couldn't help but have a huge smile on her face as her determined look focused on android 16 while they were sparring.

 **Escape from Netfiss…**

Dyspo and Kahseral ran down the hall at the Medical facility when they got a communication from the nursing staff that the prisoner had escaped during the night. When they arrived at the room, they saw an empty bed and the bindings destroyed, pieces strewn over the bedding.

"Anyone have an estimate when this happened?" Dyspo asked the head nurse. She shook her head.

"We don't know. We found the bed in this condition when my associate started her shift to check on his vitals."

"He couldn't have gone far, not in his condition," Kahseral stated and Dyspo nodded.

"He's on a special type of medication to stabilize and strengthen his internal organs. Once it wears off, there is a huge risk that his lung will be punctured by one of his broken ribs."

"Get the word out to the Pride Troopers, Kahseral. I want all units to report to Netfiss immediately and begin a planet-wide search for the escapee. How long before the effects of the medication run out?" He asked the nurse.

"We administered his last dose at 2200 hours before lights out. He has another 3 hours before the effects run out. If he's not careful, he could rupture his lung and cause internal bleeding, which I estimate will lead to death by sundown."

"Then our first task is to monitor all medical facilities, depots, and transport vehicles. He should be aware of his condition and will want to hit the first vehicle transporting supplies to this location or the nearest medical facility. I want a list of all scheduled deliveries as soon as possible. Let's go."

They both took off and Kahseral tapped his wrist communicator to alert all Troopers to head back to Netfiss. Dyspo took to the air to survey the area once he was outside the building and he flew towards the city.

He didn't notice the white sheet on top of a building roof where Kelerot had hid himself and Kelerot peeked out from underneath the sheet. He grunted as he sat up, holding his right side.

"They're a lot cleverer than I give them credit for, that's for sure," he muttered. _I don't know how bad the pain is or what these drugs did. They'll try to find me but I'm certain they won't succeed._

He tried to laugh a bit but winced heavily as he held his side. He felt around his rib cage and hissed. He wasn't sure whether the blood that had seeped out from his crash led to something worse. He couldn't think about that now, he had to make use of his delving technique to search for something he remembered from the prisoners to help him.

As he reached deep in his subconscious, he could identify a few useful abilities. One of them was a prisoner who could phase through solid matter. That would be useful to hide himself by phasing through walls to a different room to give them the slip. There was another where one of the prisoners could alter his appearance but the Troopers put safeguards with their security system so that in the event the prisoner changed into one of them, the system would know the real from the fake. Kelerot narrowed it down to those two techniques and practiced them in his mind. He often did this while he was in his prison cell to keep the memories fresh in his mind but didn't care enough to put them to use because he wanted to focus more on building his own technique of manipulating gravity and mastering all variations of it.

 _I should start small and change into one of these citizens. That should buy me enough time to find a medical transport vehicle and take what I need._

He opened his eyes and was slow to stand back up on his feet, holding his side. He peeled the bedsheet off the wound he covered and he felt a wave of dizziness come over him. He had to hold himself up against the wall to keep himself from falling again. Not only did he need to find more of that medicine the nurses gave him but he needed to eat something fast. The loss of blood sapped his energy and resting up was the only means to recover enough to move and use a basic technique he learned through his delving. But first, he needed to find someone so he could copy their appearance.

He walked over to the side of the building where a ladder was affixed and carefully climbed down. As he got off the ladder, a homeless man approached him from behind.

"Spare some change, sir?" he asked. Kelerot's heart jumped a beat. He turned around, surprised. He sighed yet he felt his breathing was a bit heavier. He glanced around the homeless man to see if they were alone.

"Do you have any money?" the homeless man asked again and Kelerot gave him a look. _This one will do for now_.

"Hey buddy, you got-"

"I heard you the first time," Kelerot said, annoyed. He checked for signs of activity but only saw a couple walk by out of sight. He stared at the homeless man for a moment.

"Look, friend. I don't have money, but I do need to know where I can find some clothes. This sheet is all that I have on me."

The homeless man gave him a dirty look and grumbled to himself as he turned around and walked away. Kelerot raised his left arm and was able to gather enough energy to fire a small blast that hit the homeless man in the back of the head, knocking him down face first on the ground. It was all he could do, and knelt down to check on the man lying on the ground. He rolled him over onto his back and studied his features.

"Sorry friend, I'll need you to take a nap for a while," Kelerot said as he undressed the man to wear his clothes and ripped up the bedsheet to wrap it tightly around his ribs to keep it secure. He channelled energy to change his appearance and he was somewhat successful, his face a mix of his fur surrounding is features but the rest of the face resembled that of the man's. He opened up the lid to a dumpster and placed the man's unconscious form inside. "You can sleep it off in there."

 _Now to find a medical depot,_ he thought and walked around the city streets of Netfiss without being noticed, since the citizens were minding their own business. He did get approached by a couple of people who gave him money, telling him that they believed in good faith and charity, something they revered the Pride Troopers for and Kelerot felt disgusted in the back of his mind. He knew what the Troopers really stood for; charity and good deeds weren't one of them. However, he could use this money to help him get a bite to eat.

He decided to stop one of the people and ask them where he could find a medical depot. They led him to a digital directory which displayed a map of the city on Netfiss and all major locations in and out of town. He was then given a bit of money from the citizen and he walked away. Kelerot pocketed the money and looked over the diagram and a computer voice came on.

"How may I be of assistance today?" the voice asked.

"Show me the depots that ship medicine to the medical facilities," Kelerot stated and the computer flashed three blinking locations on the map.

"I have identified three medical depots located within a fifty mile radius. The closest one to your current location is located 5 miles west. I have outlined a path leading to that location at your convenience."

Kelerot was about to leave when the computer's screen changed.

"Incoming transmission," the computer voice said.

"This is General Dyspo of the Pride Troopers advising all citizens of Netfiss City. Be on the look-out for this individual who recently escaped from Space Prison. He is wanted for the murder of 358 people, Troopers Tupper and Vuon among the victims. We suspect his whereabouts to be within city limits. If you see this criminal, do not engage him; notify your nearest Pride Trooper officer or commander immediately. Your cooperation in this effort will be greatly appreciated and welcomed. Justice will prevail and have a good day."

Kelerot's face appeared on the screen as Dyspo's voice spoke and he scowled at the screen. He could see that the message and visual began appearing all over, not only on other computer terminals, but on large digital billboards as well. The citizens stopped walking around to listen to the message, then growing murmurs were being heard as they began talking about it amongst each other. Kelerot glanced around and hoped that he wouldn't be recognized, the technique that he used to change his appearance seemed to be working just fine. He began walking away from the computer screen and followed the path to the depot.

When he turned down another alleyway to cut across from a nearby street, he could see Pride Trooper guards posted at the entrance. The facility director was being briefed by Kahseral and they shook hands afterwards. The director went back into the building and Kelerot glared at the Troopers outside.

He snuck around out of their field of vision and went around the building to the back to see if there were any other Troopers posted there and saw one of them. There was a large delivery truck coming up from a nearby street and it pulled up to the back of the depot. When the Trooper guard greeted the driver and his helper, Kelerot rushed to the back of the truck out of sight before they noticed him. When he stopped, he stifled a grunt from the pain and took a few short breaths, enough not to aggravate the pain on his side. _Let's see about that other technique._

He had to shift back to his original shape before he could use this other technique and quickly channeled energy to make his body translucent and he took a gamble, passing through the door of the truck to phase through inside. When he made himself solid again, he quickly hid behind a stack of boxes near the back of the truck's interior, just in time to hear the door sliding open. The workers grabbed tools that were hanging from the wall and Kelerot kept a close eye on them to see where they were going and they eventually went out of sight.

 _Now to figure out what these boxes contain if they have anything that'll help me,_ he thought and looked at the label on the box beside him. He took one down and opened it, examining the contents. The pill bottles read that they were pain relievers yet nothing more specific. Kelerot pocketed one of the bottles and looked around at the other piles.

He began opening and removing some of the contents from different boxes, not caring what they were until he could get a better look later. He needed to hurry to get what he could before the driver and helper came back and hid back behind the stack from earlier when he spotted them approaching the truck's entrance. The tools they were using hauled large pallets with an energy field and they loaded each pallet onto the truck. The helper noticed a few of the boxes looked off and pointed it out to the driver.

"We're on a deadline, worry about it later," he told him and they both went back in the depot. Kelerot walked over to the new set of boxes and looked it over. These were all the same and he opened one of them which contained some simple medical supplies and he pocketed those as well. He hid the box and those he had opened earlier to not arouse suspicion yet and hid back as the workers returned from another load, only this time it was smaller with different boxes of varying sizes. The two then hung the tools back on the inside wall and closed the door. Kelerot quickly moved out to the new pallets and looked it over. He grabbed a few random boxes and brought them back to his hiding spot, opening them up. He could see that there were other different types of medicine that he hoped would be put to good use to help him manage his pain and help him heal, but as before, he pocketed them for later. He could hear the truck start up and pull away from the lot. He used this time to replace the makeshift bandage he used from the bedsheet and disinfected the area with a spray he found in one of the boxes he opened earlier.

When the truck stopped, he waited until they opened up the door and Kelerot peeked out from behind the boxes to see where the truck ended up. It wasn't a familiar location and he looked around the area to see more clearly. When the workers moved the first pallets off the truck, he snuck to the entrance to see if there were Troopers around and saw that there were two. When they greeted the workers, they had their backs turned and Kelerot quickly got off the truck and ran away to a wooded area beyond the parking lot. He noticed that this was the same medical facility he had escaped from the night before and he grinned a bit.

"If I can flag down a nurse, I might get more information on these items," he said and waited. He spent a while observing what was going on and noticed the workers confusion as to missing items and opened boxes and looked around the area with the Troopers but couldn't find anyone. He smiled a bit at their lack of awareness and decided to look over what he had stole from the truck. He read each bottle and sighed. He learned quite a few things while in prison, but medical terminology wasn't one of them. He knew a few basic things from what he remembered back in his childhood on Gardenia, but more advanced things like this were beyond him. It wasn't until later that the pain on his side became more intense as his breathing grew harder and his vision blurred a bit.

"Dammit, the medication's wearing off," he muttered and almost passed out, standing up to lean against a tree. He began to feel nauseated and threw up a bit in his hand. When he looked down at it, his eyes widened when he saw that it was his own blood that he spewed out and his heart began to race. _I really am going to die, am I?_

He kept himself from passing out by focusing on the building ahead and he could see several nursing staff exit, likely at the end of their shift. He waited until one of them approached his location and he jumped out to grab her from behind and he covered her mouth to stifle her scream. She kept yelling through Kelerot's hand and he shushed her in her ear.

"I'm not going to hurt you, so long as you cooperate with me," he told her, walking her over to her vehicle. He leaned up against the back of it and stared at her, and when she got a good look at his face, her own face grew pale.

"Oh my God, you're him, the escaped criminal," she said and Kelerot chuckled a bit.

"I need your help, do that and I'll let you go. I don't care if you notify the Pride Troopers that you saw me. I just need you to help identify some medication I took from a delivery truck. I'm no good to them dead, right? If you want their so-called 'justice' to prevail, you'll help me out."

The nurse looked around the area to see if anyone else had noticed them and she nodded, hesitantly. Kelerot led her to the tree he leaned up against earlier and pointed out the haul to her.

"Tell me which ones help manage pain or heal injuries, or whatever they do. I don't know what you guys injected me with but it helped yet it ran out and I'm coughing up blood," he told her and she stared at the bottles on the ground. She then went to touch Kelerot's side and he winced back.

"Let me look at that," she said and Kelerot relented. She looked over his side and sighed.

"You wrapped it poorly, let me fix that," she told him and removed the bandages around his rib cage. She frowned when she saw the tender area and glanced up at him.

"Your lung got punctured. I know what medicine they were using to help you. The medication stabilizes and strengthens your internal organs, regardless of the severity of the injury. But it has to be administered every twelve hours otherwise your organs will weaken and prevent you from healing properly. If you take another dose of medicine the bleeding will stop. We'd need to perform surgery to fix your broken rib and relocate it to prevent it from puncturing your lung."

"Then go get a doctor," Kelerot said and he threw up again. The nurse held him up and he closed his eyes. He wanted to scream but that would draw too much attention and he hissed through his teeth.

"I-I can't," she told him, her voice growing more anxious.

"Then point out which of those damn bottles has that same medicine and inject it into me," he cried out and she quickly looked over the bottles and picked one up that had a dark green liquid inside. She grabbed a needle gun and placed the bottle in an open slot. She injected the liquid in Kelerot's side and he gritted his teeth as the liquid was being pumped in. He grabbed the empty bottle afterwards and looked it over. He sighed and put it back in his pocket.

"T-that should help you. Can I go, please?" she said. He could definitely hear the fear in her voice and he stared at her.

"I need one more thing," he told her and took the shirt off. He moved the bandages aside and took a few deep breaths.

"I need you to get me something to bite on," he said and she looked at him, puzzled. She found the nearest branch on the ground and handed it to him. He closed his eyes and brought the branch up to his mouth.

"You might want to look away for this," he told her and bit down on it. He then jabbed his hand into his side, reaching in to find the rib that had punctured his lung. He groaned through, biting down hard on the branch as he felt the rib against his lung and pulled it out. When he managed to move it out of his lung and back to its usual spot, he had to keep himself steady against the tree, otherwise he would've passed out from the pain and be at the mercy of this nurse and whatever Pride Troopers she would no doubt call to her aid.

She had covered her eyes while he jabbed his hand inside and winced when she heard him grunt loudly as he was moving his rib. She then gasped when she saw the pool of blood on his side and quickly cleaned it up, applying a fresh bandage around his chest and rib cage. She then looked at the bottles on the ground and took one to inject him with it, which numbed the pain he was in.

"Why did you do that?" She said, panicking. He chuckled a bit as she treated him, stitching and cleaning the wound up, then applying a fresh set of bandages around him.

"So, I only need those two, then?" he said as he took the other empty bottle and put it in his pocket. She looked back, very nervous and upset.

"Yes, as long as you keep taking those, you'll recover. But that stupid stunt you pulled won't allow you to heal properly and you might end up worse off than you were before," she told him and stepped back when she finished. Her clothes were now tattered in Kelerot's blood and she wiped her forehead of sweat with the back of her hand, which had been shaking a bit. He stared at her and sighed. His breathing had improved now that he had a fresh injection of medication and spat out whatever blood was still in his mouth. When he put his shirt back on, she turned around and walked to her vehicle.

"Hey," he said, stopping her. She turned around but didn't look at him.

"Whatever you think of me, I'm not as bad as they say I am. I just want to be free and left alone," he told her but she didn't say anything and quickly went into her vehicle to drive off. He took the bottles out of his pocket and read them over.

"Once I get better, I can get off this planet and be out of their hair for good," he muttered and put the bottles back in his pocket. He took a look at the money he received earlier from a few citizens and grinned. He changed his appearance to that of the homeless man he killed earlier, only this time it was more successful.

The money gave him a decent amount of food to eat but it was not enough to curb his Saiyan appetite. He knew he had to deal with it since he had been used to this back at the prison. He watched the other citizens eat and engage in conversation, and it made him remember times when he'd have meals with Perilla and his friends after a long training session under Daikon's tutelage. He breathed a sigh and finished his plate. A poster caught the corner of his eye and he glanced over to see that it bore an old, familiar face, that of Toppo. But he looked far more imposing than when he first saw him years ago and his structure looked more menacing. He noticed a mantle on his shoulders and a pair of gauntlets on his forearms that he hadn't seen before on him and he walked over to the poster to get a better look.

The poster advertised a "God of Destruction appreciation day" event happening within the next three months and Kelerot frowned. He read the message:

"Coming soon to Netfiss, our universe's greatest champion now full-fledged Destroyer, Lord Barbon."

He read on: "To celebrate ten years of Lord Barbon's reign as Destroyer, we have personally extended an invitation for him to attend with the Lady Marcarita and the Supreme Kai, Lord Cae to celebrate with the Pride Troopers and Netfiss's citizens! Come one, come all, bring your families and celebrate!"

Kelerot glared at the image of Toppo, who seemed to go by the name Barbon now and he wanted nothing more than to spit on that face. _So he really has become a Destroyer God now._

He turned and walked out of the restaurant and strolled down the street. He needed to find another depot to steal more medical supplies in the meantime and scrounge for food while figuring out what to do until Barbon, Marcarita, and Cae arrive. Then it hit him.

 _I've only used Delving to learn of techniques, but what if there was more to this ability than just that? No…Master Daikon warned me about this. But if I have the chance to gain the abilities of the Supreme Kai and the Destroyer, there's no telling how much stronger I'd become. The Kai must have a wealth of knowledge at his disposal and Barbon has the power of a Destroyer. I'm sorry Master, but I can't let this opportunity go to waste._

He began to brainstorm some ideas as he walked down the street. He checked the city map to find another depot and made his way there. Wanted posters and warnings etched on the billboards continued to notify the public about Kelerot and to be on the lookout for him, but his disguise as just a random homeless person meant that they'd never be able to find him. It wasn't long until the Pride Troopers enacted Martial Law to keep the citizens on a tight schedule, enforcing a curfew as a result of the heightened alert. The citizens had the utmost faith in them, trusting their judgement with relative ease. Kelerot found this notion disgusting and scoffed at the verbal warnings that came through the P.A. system throughout the city.  
Several more Pride Troopers descended from ships stationed in outer space and landed on top of their main H.Q. building and both Dyspo and Kahseral briefed the new recruits on their duties to look out for suspicious activity and to be on guard at all times in the event Kelerot might show up again.

When the first curfew warning sounded in the city, Kelerot had made his way to another medical depot. He observed the Pride Troopers briefing each other at their shift rotation and could spot Dyspo and Kahseral talking things over with Cocotte and Kunshi. He snuck closer to a set of crates to hide behind and could hear Dyspo speak with them.

"Thanks for meeting me here. I understand not everyone is able to make it due to their post obligations," Dyspo said, standing at attention beside Kahseral as a dozen Troopers stood tall, awaiting their orders with Cocotte and Kunshi standing in front. Dyspo glanced at Kahseral and nodded at him.

"I've just received a report from a nurse at Medical Facility A that prisoner 312-1984 had confronted her," Kahseral began. "She did provide treatment for his injuries, but in her statement, the prisoner did not engage in a hostile manner. This does buy him at least another half-day where he will try to steal more medical supplies."

Dyspo handed Cocotte and Kunshi a digital tablet. "We've drafted a list of squads to monitor each depot and medical facility throughout the city. We've also postponed shipments from outside the city so supplies will be scarce. I've notified the medical staff at each site to ration out their medication accordingly until further notice.

"Squads A through C will be posted at each Medical facility. Zoiray, Kettol, and Kahseral will be squad leaders for those posts. Cocotte, you will be assigned squad D, Kunshi will be assigned squad E, and Blendz will be assigned to squad F, posted at all depots. Sub-squads will be assigned rotational shifts to relieve Main-squads at each twelve hour interval.

"Troopers, should you encounter prisoner 312-1984, notify your squad leader immediately and they will engage him. Provide support fire if needed but do not kill him. I want him apprehended, restrained and brought to H.Q. The longer this takes, the more likely he will recover from his injuries and regain his strength. Dismissed."

Blendz, the new recruit of the Pride Troopers, a humanoid-looking male with darker skin and red eyes, signaled his squad to take to the air and fly to their assigned post. Cocotte gathered her squad and left for the other depot while Kunshi remained with his squad. Dyspo nodded to Kahseral and he took off, leaving him alone with Kunshi's squad. He glanced over at the crates and narrowed his eyes.

"Dyspo? Something wrong?" Kunshi asked and Dyspo began walking over to the crates.

"I saw something move behind them," he said and Kunshi signaled his squad to remain at the entrance. When they reached the crates, they saw a figure slumped on the ground, curled up with his eyes closed. When he bent down to get a closer look, Dyspo sighed.

"You should be at your shelter, citizen, it's not safe roaming the streets past curfew," Dyspo said as he shook the man awake. What he didn't know was that it was Kelerot in disguise and he glanced up at him with a smile on his face. Kelerot stood up and dusted his clothes off.

"I'm sorry, I found some shade and decided to take a nap," Kelerot said, faking a voice. He could make up any voice he wanted to and throw off the Pride Troopers, but the most important part was that his face looked different. He was holding onto his side however as he stood up and Dyspo glanced down. Kelerot grabbed his other side and pulled his clothes in a bit tighter.

"Bit chilly, is all," he told him and Dyspo cleared his throat.

"There's a shelter a couple of blocks from here, you should proceed there immediately. I wouldn't want to arrest you for violating curfew now, understood?"

"Of course not," Kelerot said, staring at him. Dyspo felt a bit of contempt behind that look he was getting, but ignored it, instead leading Kelerot away to point him in the right direction.

When Kelerot noticed that they stopped watching him, he glanced around and couldn't see anyone other than the Troopers assigned to the depot and he jumped up to a scaffold that was on the side of the building and climbed up. He peered through a window and could see a few people inside, like a family and he kept out of sight of them. He kept an eye on Dyspo until he took off and flew out of the city limits.

He calmly observed the Troopers' movements and sighed. _Dyspo's covering a lot of ground and leaving no holes in his strategy. Guess I'll have to change into one of them to gain access into the facility, but I'd need one of their uniforms first._

Kelerot noticed that the Troopers began walking around the building, patrolling the area. He carefully flew back down to the ground and stayed low as he approached the depot, staying within the shadows so they wouldn't see him. There were a few crates near the exterior of the building that one of the Troopers walked by and Kelerot waited a moment. He needed to plan this carefully and observed their movements. First, he kept an eye on Kunshi and saw him walk around the building to the rear entrance where the trucks made their stops to load the supplies. He noticed that the ones patrolling the building were by themselves and he waited until the next Trooper made his way around before he came up behind him and covered his mouth, pulling him behind the crate. He quickly snapped the Trooper's neck to kill him and looked around to see if anyone had noticed.

After removing the Trooper's black and red spandex uniform, Kelerot took the homeless man's clothes off and slipped into the spandex outfit, taking the dead Trooper's gloves and boots to put them on as well. He had to think for a moment to decide who he'd copy now and figured that since Jiren wasn't on the planet, a "surprise" visit would get him access. He channeled energy and grunted as he changed his appearance to look like Jiren, and it was a bit of a stretch considering how muscular and taller he was. When he finished changing, he looked over his body, checking to see if he had managed to copy Jiren as accurately as possible and noticed that the muscular structure wasn't as huge, yet it was still larger than Kelerot's at least.

"Jiren" walked out from behind the crates and made his way to the entrance of the depot and the Troopers on guard were stunned to see him.

"J-Jiren! We weren't expecting you to show up!" said one of the guards and Kelerot stared at him.

"Let me in," he said in his best Jiren voice. The downside to this ability that Kelerot realized was that only the appearance would change. He wouldn't be able to copy the voice and remembered that Jiren had a deep intimidating voice that was enough to scare anyone.

"Uh, y-yes sir, right away!" the Trooper said and he unlocked the door which slid open to let Kelerot in. He could see that there was a skeleton crew working on some maintenance and janitorial duties but they ignored him as he walked by.

Kelerot made his way to the main warehouse area of the depot which had shut down for the day. He flipped a few switches to turn the lights on and the crew took notice.

"Can we help you with something?" asked one of them and Kelerot stared at him.

"Get lost," he said, using Jiren's glare to intimidate the poor crew member and they backed away quickly, resuming their duties, knowing not to bother him any further.

Kelerot walked around the large warehouse, checking all the boxes and supply crates, hoping to see the same label as the one that was on the bottle that the nurse helped identify. He stopped and felt a sharp pain shoot up his side.

"Dammit, maintaining this form is taking its toll on my body," he said and reluctantly had to change back to his normal appearance, his body shriveling back down to his usual shape. He realized that he'd have to act quickly and find the supply of medication he needed before the other Troopers would begin to notice one of their own was missing and presumed dead.

He darted across each row and shelf to locate the box he needed and managed to find it at the end of the row. There were at least several hundred boxes stacked together in this section since this was a very common medication that the facility used. He looked at each box and saw that they contained 60 vials of the liquid.

"A month's worth of medication in each box," he muttered to himself and took three boxes down. He set those aside and looked to the right of the boxes to the set of injection guns and broke open one to take an injection gun for himself. He took a vial from one of the boxes and injected himself with the liquid, breathing a sigh of relief. Placing the gun into the open box with the other vials, he glanced up at the ceiling and flew up there. There was a higher section with a rail that overlooked the floor below and he landed on the catwalk. He noticed that there was a door that was labelled "roof access" and made his way there.  
As he opened the door, the wrist communicator beeped and Kunshi's voice came in. "Jiren, come in! Jiren, please respond!"

Kelerot set the boxes down and ripped the communicator off his wrist, crushing it in his hand. He then rushed to the roof with the boxes and busted the door open. He ripped the top part of the Trooper uniform off and emptied the boxes of vials onto the fabric. Because of how stretchable it was, he was able to bundle them all together along with the injection gun and tie it all closed.

"Now for a distraction," he said and he ran to the other side of the roof, looking down. He could see a nearby building that didn't look different than the others and channeled energy into his arm to fire a blast that hit the entrance of the building. The resulting explosion rocked the area and the Troopers were stunned from the noise. He could hear voices from below.

"What was that?!"

"Squad Leader Kunshi, come in! We have a situation!"

"You two, come with me, the rest stay here!"

Kelerot saw them scramble to the damaged building and he ran to the bundle, grabbing it with his hand and then taking off to the air to fly out of sight and land near the shelter that Dyspo had told him about earlier. He quickly changed his disguise to the homeless man and ran to the back of the building. He could sense Dyspo's energy as it was coming back to the city and made its way over to the depot. No doubt he would've loved to hear Dyspo's screams of frustration and anguish as he had given him the slip yet again but laughing would only aggravate his mid-section.

He needed a place to hide this bag and figured that this shelter would probably be an ideal location to hide it and lay low until he recovered. When he walked in, he was greeted by one of the staff.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright? Shall I contact a medical facility?" she said, looking at his injuries and Kelerot looked ahead.

"I need a place to stay and store my things," he told her. She hesitated at first and then nodded, leading him down the hall to a room that had other homeless people inside.

"We're a little bit crowded tonight due to the curfew but you should have sufficient room to sleep tonight if you need it. I can take your bag if you want."

"No, I'll need this," he told her and walked in. There was about a couple dozen others in the room, some asleep on the floor while others were busy chatting with each other. They paused when they saw Kelerot walk in with his bag and stared at him. When she closed the door behind him, they all approached him.

"What's in the bag?" asked one of them.

"None of your concern," Kelerot replied and he put the bag down by the corner of the room. The homeless man approached him, upset at the remark and shoved Kelerot.

"I don't take kindly to new people who act so cold to us. How about you share what's in the bag with us?" He reached for the bag but Kelerot grabbed the man's hand and began to crush it, forcing him down to his knees. He changed back to his original shape and the people in the room took a few steps back.

"Hey, y-you, you're the guy the Pride Troopers are looking for," said a homeless woman and she bent down to put her arms around the man.

"Please, let my husband go," she told Kelerot and he relaxed his grip, allowing the man to slide his hand free. He frowned and glanced down at them.

"I'm sorry," he told them and leaned up against the wall beside his bag. The man stood up and held his hand, glaring at him, but she calmed him down and the tension in the room rose as they stared at Kelerot cautiously.

"I'm not here to harm anyone," he told them.

"How can we be sure of that? We heard you killed a lot of people," said the man with the injured hand. Kelerot paused, staring at them, then put his hands behind his head, exposing his injuries. They could see how badly damaged he looked with all the bruises and scars he had (most of which were concealed under his fur), and some began to look at him with a bit more empathy than with fear. Kelerot took note of this and sighed.

"Yes, I did kill others, but that's none of your business," he told them and began to think.

"W-what happened to you?" asked a different person and Kelerot had to pause to breathe since it was still a little difficult for him to do so. Holding onto his right side, he stared at them.

"I fought Jiren and lost," he said and collective gasps could be heard from them and a smile crossed his lips.

"You fought Jiren and survived?" asked a woman.

"Jiren doesn't kill anyone, it's not in his nature," said another man and murmurs began stirring among those still awake and Kelerot stared off into the window.

"He probably deserved it knowing that he killed innocent people," whispered an older homeless man and Kelerot glared at him.

"None of those people I killed were innocent," he stated and the older man stared back at him.

"We don't trust murderers. We should turn him over to the Pride Troopers!" he cried out and Kelerot channeled energy into a ball in his hand and they stared at him, panicking and backing away. Some held onto each other as Kelerot raised his hand to aim it at the old man.

"I don't fear people like you. We have justice on our side. You couldn't defeat Jiren and that's enough to assure me that you can't threaten us!"

Kelerot let the energy dissipate and the ball disappeared. He smiled at the old man.

"I admire your courage, not many of you have that from what I've seen. You may not like what I've done, but I assure you that if you cooperate with me, I will spare you."

The man whose hand Kelerot had broken looked at his wife for a moment then cleared his throat.

"What is it that you want?" he asked.

"Don't listen to him, he's a monster," the old man said and Kelerot glared at him.

"The only 'monster' is the one that did this to me," Kelerot spat and he walked right up to the old man, staring him down.

"I need clothes, food, shelter, and information for the next three months," he said to the man while keeping his focus on the old one.

"What kind of information?" the husband asked.

"You've seen posters about Lord Barbon coming to visit Netfiss in a couple months, right?" he asked and they all nodded and muttered agreement.

"Are you willing to be my eyes and ears until he arrives?" he asked and the old man scoffed at him.

"As if we'd do your dirty work!" cried the old man and Kelerot remained calm.

"You don't have to do anything, I'm simply making a request," he told him.

"We'll do it," the husband said and the old man stared at him in shock.

"Why would you agree to help this monster?" the old man said.

"Because I want to live!" the husband yelled and showed him his hand. "If he can crush my hand like this, there's no telling what he can do to the rest of us if we refuse to work with him, or worse, turn him over to the Troopers. Call me selfish but I like to think that I'll eventually have a chance to get back on my feet and become a productive member of society again. We all do, don't we?"

The other homeless people looked at each other and nodded. Kelerot smiled and nodded as well, staring at the old man.

"What's your name, Mr. Husband?" Kelerot asked.

"Tray," he said.

"I'm Kelerot," Kelerot told him and he stared at him up and down, along with his wife.

"This is my wife, Blenda," he said and she curtsied at Kelerot. "The shelter people are good; you can trust them. They provide good food and a place to stay for as long as you need it until you find work in the city again. We're trying as hard as we can to find work but nothing's opened up yet and there's a long wait-list for new Pride Trooper recruits. We're stuck in our current predicament until we can catch a break."

Kelerot chuckled a bit, wincing at the sharp intake of pain he felt from it. "Just like prison, then."

Tray gave him an odd look and Kelerot smiled, walking over to him.

"This place you find yourselves in, it's not all that different from Space Prison. Sure, they keep you fed and provide sleeping and bathroom arrangements, but you soon realize that you'll never be free of it. You're stuck as a prisoner no matter what."

He could feel a bit of sadness in the way Blenda was staring at him but he shook his head.

"Don't. I don't like being the kind of person who manipulates emotions. Don't feel sorry for me, ever."

"Are you sure?" Tray asked and Kelerot shook his head.

"That old man is right. You can't trust me. I'm only staying here long enough to get information and recover enough to leave the planet. I'm not here to make allies or friends, I only need time to get away from the Pride Troopers."

Blenda approached him and stared at him for a moment, looking at his face. She turned to Tray and nodded.

"I believe you. We'll help you as much as we can," she said to Kelerot and the old man scoffed.

"Won't be long before he betrays your trust, Blenda," he muttered and Kelerot frowned.

"I appreciate the gesture, thank you," he told Blenda and sat down beside his bag.

"What's in the bag, if you don't mind me asking?" she asked, eyeing the torn fabric of a Pride Trooper uniform and Kelerot untied it. He took out one of the vials of medicine and looked it over.

"Pain medication that I stole from one of their depots," he said and she frowned.

"You're risking a lot to survive," she said and Kelerot eased his head back, resting it against the wall. He put the vial back in the bag and tied it back up.

"I know, but the alternative would've been death," he said and crossed his legs. He closed his eyes and began to steady his breathing, focusing his mind and energy.

Some time later, a squad of Pride Troopers paid a visit to the shelter, led by Kahseral. They interrogated the staff about Kelerot's whereabouts or whether he had stopped here recently. The old man, who had still been skeptical of Kelerot's nature, informed them that Kelerot was hiding in the back room with other homeless people and led them there. When they arrived, the Pride Troopers found no sign of Kelerot's presence anywhere. Some were playing a game of cards; one was painting a portrait while another was busy drawing in a sketchbook. Some were also writing on sheets of paper; poems and short stories to pass the time while Blenda had been entertaining the others in the room with a few songs while she played her string instrument.

"Are you certain you saw the criminal hide here in this shelter?" Kahseral asked the old man.

"Of course I did! That monster's been here a whole month! He had this bag that he made out of the fabric of one of your uniforms, said he had medicine in it or something. If you find the bag, you'll know I'm telling the truth."

What the old man didn't know about was that Kelerot had hid the medicine in a compartment he fabricated himself with a worn out floorboard, stashing the vials underneath. He channeled energy to disintegrate the makeshift bag afterwards and changed his appearance back to the homeless man he had disguised himself as earlier. He was among those playing a card game at a table with three others, while a couple were watching over them. Kahseral had a couple of his soldiers investigate the room and after looking it over up and down, they couldn't find what the old man was talking about.

"Nothing, sir," said one of the Troopers and Kahseral frowned at the old man.

"Let's go, we'll investigate the next shelter," he informed his squad and the old man looked nervous.

"But here's here! I swear he is!" he cried and Kahseral stopped.

"Falsifying information to a Pride Trooper commanding officer is an arrestable offense, citizen. I highly advise you to quit while you're ahead unless you want any trouble," he informed him and saluted the staff before he left with the squad. The door closed to the room and Kelerot shifted back to his original appearance, walking over to the old man.

"Let me be straightforward with you: They will never find me. I know how to elude them and I will keep eluding them until I'm back to my full strength, and then I will be out of your hair for good. But until then, I need you to cooperate with us. You're only inviting trouble for yourself and everyone here if you give away my location like that. I know I can't beat them as I am now, but that doesn't mean I won't take down a few thousand of you with me. Are we clear?"

Kelerot stared intensely at the old man, who frowned as he looked down at the floor.

"Fine, you win," he said and muttered to himself as he walked out of the room. Kelerot sat back down at the table and sighed.

The time he had spent at the shelter afforded him a sufficient amount of rest, recovery and food. The homeless citizens of Netfiss shared vital information about the Pride Troopers and how often Lord Barbon, then Toppo, would visit the shelters to help the homeless adjust comfortably and would help those most troubled to reintegrate back into society. Barbon commanded a lot of respect among the citizens, but Kelerot didn't care about any of that. He knew Barbon was one of the Pride Troopers who captured him and sentenced him to live in that hellish prison for years.

More information came forth about Barbon's visit with the Supreme Kai and his attendant, Marcarita, which would take place a in seven days. A lot of city organizers enlisted volunteers, which some of the homeless people were happy to do so, and they set up decorations and games for the children to play. They reserved the center square of Netfiss city as the framework for when they would welcome Barbon, Cae, and Marcarita to Netfiss to celebrate Barbon's tenth year as Destroyer.

When Kelerot felt a bit of his strength had returned, he resumed his physical training to keep himself in shape. Some of it proved more difficult than others due to the severity of his injuries, so he managed what he could until the day of celebration arrived.

He had exhausted the supply of vials he stole from the depot but felt that he had healed well enough that it was no longer needed. His only strategy at this point was to get close enough to Cae and Barbon to touch them and let his delving to the work.

He disguised himself as the homeless man again and stepped out of the shelter. He made his way to the center square and froze when he saw the Pride Troopers standing around. But what really unnerved him was that he saw Jiren standing among them, his arms crossed and quietly observing the area. Dyspo and Kahseral directed their respective squads to fan out and cover as much ground as possible so that they could be sure Kelerot wasn't going to show up, yet Kelerot was there, hiding in plain sight.

 _I need to create a diversion to lure out their leaders. I know Dyspo's gotta be furious at this point and wants nothing more than to see me captured,_ he thought to himself as a smile crossed his lips. He created some distance from the gathering crowd and cupped his hands to his mouth.

"I found the criminal! I found him!" he cried out and the crowd turned around to see him. Some faces began to look unnerved and they began to talk openly among themselves. Dyspo's squad ran over quickly to meet him.

"Citizen! Where is he?" Dyspo shouted as he thread himself through the crowd. They parted to allow the squad through and Kelerot began to run in the opposite direction.

"Follow me! I know where he's hiding!" he shouted and turned a corner out of their sight. Dyspo and the squad ran past him as Kelerot had changed his appearance to resemble Tray. When they were out of sight, Kelerot quickly ran back to the crowd and walked down to get a better view of the M.C. who was checking his watch.

"It's almost time, everyone! Lord Barbon will arrive momentarily!" he shouted in a microphone and the crowd began to cheer loudly. Kelerot pretended to cheer as well, keeping himself blended in with the crowd as they eagerly awaited Barbon to show up.

A few minutes later, a brilliant prismatic light shone from high up in the sky and a pillar of light descended down to the center of the open square. When the light faded, Lord Barbon, Supreme Kai Cae, and Lady Marcarita were all standing before the crowd, who roared with approval at the sight of the three. A smile crossed the lips of Barbon behind his large moustache and Cae couldn't help but feel blessed by the turnout, his cheeks going red, and Marcarita bowed humbly at the crowd.

"Please welcome our esteemed guests: The Supreme Kai, Cae, the Lady attendant, Marcarita, and your guest of honor, the one and only: Lord Barbon the Destroyer!"

Barbon blushed a bit as Cae glanced up at him.  
"This is quite the greeting, my Lord," he told him and Barbon cleared his throat.

"I am not used to receiving so much praise like this," Barbon said and Marcarita giggled.

"It's a shame Belmod couldn't be here to witness this, he would've been ecstatic," she said.

They all waved and began to greet the citizens, who began to swarm Barbon and Cae. Marcarita was greeted by a few children, who wanted her to come play with them. She turned to Barbon and Cae.

"Oh no, whatever shall I do? I'm being kidnapped by children!" she said, pretending to be shocked and Cae chuckled a bit.

Kelerot observed what was going on and he figured this was the best chance he had to delve Cae and Barbon, since Marcarita was preoccupied with the group of children who were leading her away. _I only need a few seconds to do this._

He nudged through the crowd to reach Barbon and Cae and as they were greeting the crowd, they were shouting praises and touching Barbon's large hands and arms, admiring his physique. Kelerot was able to weave his way to get as close as possible and laid his hands on both Cae and Barbon, touching whatever part had been exposed to him. They didn't notice what was going on since they were so busy seeing expressions of happiness and elation, some of the citizens crying tears of joy from seeing their hero in person.

Kelerot focused as much of his energy as he could and delved deep within the two. It was like opening a door and all of the universe was splayed out before him. A vast, endless universe that stretched on forever, with swirls of energies converging around one another. Energy of creation and energy of destruction all in one, a sight Kelerot had never thought possible. He saw a majestic palette of wonders that he couldn't help but explore, and time seemed to have had no meaning at this point for him as he continued to look further into the two auras he connected himself to.

"It's so beautiful," Kelerot whispered, but the crowd was so noisy that no one heard him. He continued to delve deeper and in the back of his mind, he could hear Daikon's voice warning him about this.

 _I'm sorry master, I've seized the universe and I want to know everything about it. I want their experiences, their memories, their wisdom. I want all of it, not just their techniques!_

Kelerot went even further and could see images and sequences that were once blurred become as clear as glass. He could see all the times Cae had spent with Belmod, the former Destroyer, and Marcarita. He could see knowledge of the universe and many other universes as well as this one flicker one after the other, an array of memories and experiences spanning ages. When he saw Barbon's memories, the tone shifted and the aura became more chaotic. He began to see other memories of his, memories of his time as a Pride Trooper. He delved the memories of when he was Toppo, and the time he had captured Kelerot, seeing himself from Barbon's point of view. He began to see his involvement in a large tournament stage, fighting different warriors. He could see a couple of them with spiked hair fighting him and the names "Goku" and "Vegeta" were thrown around. He could see the two fighters clearly in his mind now and through Barbon he could see how powerful they were as they were fighting, even taking notice of how Goku was fighting Jiren. Goku's aura looked completely different, unlike anything he had ever seen before and through Barbon he saw the whole fight against Jiren take place and was awestruck by how powerful both fighters looked based on how much impact they had on the stage and how much destruction was laid upon it.

Another memory came forth, this time it was Planet Gardenia. He could see his home for the first time in years and Barbon's outstretched hand as it launched a large energy blast that cascaded down upon the planet. It caused a chain reaction that blew it up, the devastation scattering millions of pieces of debris across the cosmos and Kelerot's face grew pale in horror at what he had witnessed. He stopped touching Cae and Barbon and staggered back, an expression of fright crossing his face.

"It…it really is true…isn't it…?"

Barbon noticed Kelerot's expression of fear and panic and frowned, narrowing his eyes. Kelerot felt a range of emotions that were like rapid fire, but most of them were fear, anger, and bewilderment.

He did not anticipate however the aftereffects of delving all that accumulated knowledge from Cae and he began to feel a great deal of pressure bear down upon his head. He grabbed it and began to cry out in pain. Wave after wave of intense imagery of the multiverse shot into his mind, and each image felt more impactful than the last. He couldn't find the time to process each image fast enough and they began to overwhelm him. He couldn't focus anymore and his face and body shifted back to his original state as his cries of pain grew louder.

"What's happening to me?" Kelerot's voice was shaking in panic. _This was only to gain knowledge, why is it seeping into my brain like this?!_

When the crowd turned to see what was going on, some people began to scream when they saw Kelerot's face before them. He was no longer in his disguise and saw the terror in their faces as they began to scatter and flee, running away from him. Barbon and Cae looked around at the crowd running away in confusion and Barbon took a closer look at Kelerot and his eyes widened a bit.

"It's you!" he said and Kelerot backed away, waving his hand around. He managed to set aside the pain for a moment and glared furiously at Barbon.

"You bastard," he muttered and the ground began to shake around him. A bright hot white aura flared around him and waves of energy shot out from all around him to blow nearby people away. The Pride Troopers had to fly to catch them before they were blown away and Barbon narrowed his gaze at Kelerot.

"Stand down and cease this at once!" Barbon shouted and he motioned to Marcarita to keep the children at bay. She erected a force field around them and escorted them away from the area. Cae was escorted away by a few Pride Trooper soldiers as Kelerot's power increased and his energy began to fluctuate wildly. He couldn't control the output as his head was pounding and he had one eye closed to focus on dulling the pain while the other was fixed squarely on Barbon.

"You took everything from me! You're going to pay for what you've done!" He yelled and clutched his head again. Clenching his fists, he unleashed a horrifying scream and let his energy billow outward. Barbon and the Pride Troopers shielded their faces as Kelerot's energy burst forth and the aura around him changed from white to a dark purple, which stunned Barbon as he saw it.

"What the?!" he cried out and raised his hand. He was able to block the dome of energy that was growing out from Kelerot but he knew what kind of energy this was as it extended outward.

"Everyone! Move as far away from here as possible! Hurry!" he shouted and used his own aura to counter the growing energy of Destruction that was coming from Kelerot but this energy was raw and unfocused. Raw destruction energy was very hard to contain and it began to destroy the landscape around him. Those unfortunate enough to not escape in time were caught in the energy and erased from existence, purple particles of energy left in their wake.

Jiren stepped in and Barbon raised his hand to stop him.

"We mustn't fight here! Too many innocent people will be caught in the cross-fire!" Barbon shouted and Kelerot flew straight at him, firing a large ball of destruction energy. Jiren used this opening to move at high speed to appear in front of Kelerot and knock the ball away into orbit. He began unloading a barrage of punches at Kelerot, which he managed to block as quickly as possible but Jiren got in a heavy blow, knocking him down to the ground with a thundering blow. Kelerot cried out as he hit the ground and rubble exploded around him from the impact. He was slow to get to his feet and cried out again in pain as he grabbed his head. Jiren landed in front of him.

"You should have surrendered," he told him and Kelerot glared up at him. He staggered to his feet and clenched his fists again.

"LEAVE. ME. ALONE~!" he screamed and a huge wave of raw energy burst forth from Kelerot that was strong enough to send Jiren flying back a few feet. He steadied himself and Kelerot held onto his head, dropping to one knee. Barbon was surprised to see even Jiren had been knocked back a bit and he stared at Kelerot.

"I cannot abide this any longer," he said and extended his hand outward.

"HAKA-" he began but Kelerot quickly moved to punch him in the face, but Barbon knocked it away. Kelerot continued to attack him but his blows were blocked. Jiren stepped in and was able to hit Kelerot in the injured side again with a fist and send him flying with a roundhouse kick. Kelerot crashed into a building and flew back out, screaming as he flew straight ahead at them. Barbon raised his hand, fingers pointed at him.

"Justice Flash!" he screamed and a barrage of energy blasts fired from his fingers that hit Kelerot dead on. Kelerot endured the blows as much as he could while flying towards Barbon but the damage was accumulating rapidly and he fell down to the ground again. He crawled to a kneeling position and grabbed his head once more. He was still able to stare up at Barbon with malice in his eyes.

"You took everything from me!" Kelerot repeated and Barbon stared down at him with pity in his eyes.

"Listen to me, Toppo. From this day forth until the day I draw my last breath, I. WILL TAKE. EVERYTHING. FROM YOU."

Even as a Destroyer, Barbon couldn't help but feel a growing discomfort as Kelerot gazed at him with death in his eyes. He raised his hand again to aim a Hakai at Kelerot.

"You've committed a grievous crime on us today. I cannot tolerate such evil to reign across my universe. The only recourse is destruction," Barbon told him and Kelerot stared up at him, managing to smile through all the pain he was feeling in his body and in his head.

"Too bad you won't get that satisfaction, _Toppo._ Kai-Kai!" Kelerot said and he disappeared in front of them. Barbon's eyes widened and Jiren was equally stunned. He had been left speechless as Jiren began to assess the damage caused around him. Marcarita quickly rushed back to him and landed beside him.

"Lord Barbon, what just happened?" she asked.

"Are the children safe?" Barbon asked and she nodded.

"I put them in a secure location," she said and Barbon began walking over to the Pride Troopers that were guarding Cae and keeping him out of harm's way. Cae had a worried look on his face.

"Lord Barbon, what's going on? Who was that?"

"An evil-doer I apprehended along with a group of Galactic Pirates. We intercepted a smuggling operation into the Palates system to be sold on the black market. We were able to catch the parties involved before the transaction could be completed yet several of the Pirates managed to flee with their Captain. That evildoer was among the Pirates yet he was not capable of displaying such strength. How did he become so strong? And how did he know to use destruction energy?" Barbon asked and Jiren frowned at him.

"He also teleported like a Supreme Kai," he informed them and a look of fear gripped Cae's face and Marcarita stepped forward.

"Lord Barbon, are you certain that you saw him teleport?" she asked him and he sighed heavily.

"He said 'kai-kai' before he disappeared."

Marcarita gasped a bit and put a hand to her chest. "This is bad. I have to go."

"Go where?" Cae asked and she shook her head.

"I can't tell you, I'm sorry. But this has become more serious than I realized."

She tapped her staff and disappeared in a column of light that shot up into orbit and out of sight. Barbon and Cae looked at each other for a moment.

"For the Lady Marcarita to be unnerved by this development must mean something very dire has happened. If this individual has gained my ability to teleport, he could be anywhere, in any universe."

"Then I will start by searching for him in this universe," Jiren told him and Barbon nodded.

"Understood," he told him and Jiren took off.

"Lord Barbon!" Dyspo cried as he and Kahseral ran with their squads to join them. Dyspo got a better look at the area and clenched his fists, shaking and closing his eyes.

"Lord Barbon, I'm ashamed at my lack of fortitude to prevent this incident from happening! I accept full responsibility for this!" he knelt before him and Barbon put a hand on Dyspo's shoulder.

"Do not shoulder the burden, General. I appointed you and Kahseral as leaders of the Pride Troopers and your performance has still been exemplary. This evildoer is a clever foe and for him to outwit the Pride Troopers in such a way means that he cannot be underestimated."

Dyspo calmed down when he heard Barbon's words of encouragement and he turned his attention towards Cae.

"Where do we go from here?" he asked.

"I could inform the other Kais of the remaining universes to be on the lookout for this individual," Cae said and Barbon sighed a bit.

"I believe Marcarita might be looking into that as we speak, so we will leave that up to her. For now, we should focus on searching for survivors and help with clean-up efforts," Barbon told them and they nodded in approval.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – "A grand reunion of family and friends! Warriors gather at the Tournament."**

 **Trunks and Mai…**

"There, that should do it," Marron said as she finished wrapping a bandage around the back leg of a large female herbivore. She looked like a hybrid between a cow and a hippopotamus and her calf let out a worried cry.

"Don't worry, your mama should feel better soon. Make sure you don't overdo it and rest that leg, okay? Try not to put too much weight on it. I'll come see you tomorrow to check up on you."

The mother licked Marron's face and she chuckled, wrapping her arms around the creature's neck. The calf nuzzled itself up against the mother's front leg and she led her young back out among the jungle landscape. A gentle breeze blew through Marron's blonde locks as she wiped her face from the creature's drool and breathed a happy sigh.

The daughter of Android 18 and Krillin was working full time with Goten at the wildlife refuge to help Android 17 with ranger duties since more islands became sanctuaries for endangered species. He was glad to get more help with his ranger efforts and knew that the two shared a common interest in keeping the endangered species safe while he participated in the Tournament of Power.

Marron and Goten's friendship grew into a romantic relationship as they worked together. Since Marron was friends with the Son family, 18 and Krillin seemed content with how well the two got along and their bond had been strengthened through their love of animals.

Goten was currently sparring with Trunks, since the elder of the two decided to resume his training for the World Martial Arts Tournament with his long-time friend. She could see the two off in the distance trading blows with one another and Goten managed to land a decent blow that sent Trunks flying down, crashing into the ocean waves. From a different spot in the air, she noticed an aircraft approaching the island and she shielded her eyes from the sun to get a better look. When the aircraft landed on the island, a young woman with black hair climbed out of the cockpit and put the aircraft back in its capsule. She brushed her long hair away from her face and waved at Marron.

"Mai?" Marron asked, running towards her. The two met mid-way and Marron greeted Mai as she took her hands.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again," she told her and Mai smiled politely. She glanced up at the sky and saw Trunks fly back out from the water to engage Goten once more.

"Hey," Mai said as she glanced back at Marron. There was a bit of a pause where they didn't say anything and Mai brushed her hair away again.

"How is Trunks?" Mai asked.

"Hard at work with his training for the Tournament. These past four months went by so fast," Marron stated and smiled politely at Mai, but she hid a bit of concern due to Mai's sudden appearance.

When Trunks and Goten finished sparring, they flew back down to the ground. As Trunks landed, he saw Mai and a shocked look came over his face.

"M-Mai?!" he exclaimed and Mai waved at him. They couldn't look at each other at first and Mai blushed a bit. Goten walked over to Marron and she handed him a towel.

"Mai, what are you doing here?" Trunks asked. Both Marron and Goten looked at each other and she cleared her throat.

"We should give you two some time alone. But don't forget, 17 invited us over to his place for dinner. Don't be late!" she said and took off with Goten. Marron had learned quite a few basic techniques from Goten while they worked together. She got the hang of using her father's techniques and was able to chase off a lot of poachers. She and Goten made up a little game among themselves, keeping score on how many poacher boats and aircrafts they shot down, with Marron leading by 3 points.

When they were out of sight, Trunks and Mai shared an awkward moment with Trunks eventually breaking the silence.

"I didn't expect to see you again," he said and Mai glanced down embarrassingly.

"I wish there were something I could do to make up for what I did. I don't know if saying sorry will help at all?" she started and Trunks crossed his arms.

"I don't know either. You left all of a sudden without saying goodbye. Not even a written note saying you were leaving or why you were leaving."

"I made a mistake, a lot of mistakes," she said.

"Why did you do it, Mai?" Trunks asked and Mai sighed.

"I wanted the Dragonballs and left with Pilaf and Shu. He talked me into going with him one more time and I stole one of the radars. I couldn't bring myself to tell you because of how ashamed I was. I got scared and left without saying anything.

"We found three of them, but then we lost the radar. I kept scolding Pilaf throughout the journey and we spent days trying to find a new radar. Each new problem kept piling on top of the last one and I was left with a crisis, asking myself why I got myself into this again. I don't know why I involve myself with those two idiots."

Mai felt a couple tears come up and she wiped her eyes.

"Mai…" Trunks said and he reached up with a hand to comfort her but he retracted it.

"I let a stupid desire for riches get the better of me," Mai said and she moved in closer to Trunks, but he kept her at bay.

"If you needed money that badly, we would've been happy to help you out. But you blew us off to try and make a wish. You blew _me_ off, Mai."

"I'm so sorry! I don't know why I did it, I don't know why I do this to myself!" she said and began sobbing, covering her face. Trunks sighed and embraced her, wrapping his arms around her. She held him tight against her and buried her face into his chest, which still felt damp from the water.

"I know you can't bring yourself to forgive me for this and I understand if you hate me, but I wanted to-" she got cut off when Trunks kissed her on the lips, caressing her face. She closed her eyes and eased herself into the kiss. After a few seconds, they broke free and Mai looked up at Trunks, not knowing what just happened.

"I missed you, Mai. I've missed you every day since you were gone," he said and Mai's eyes widened.

"Don't say that, that makes it worse," she said and Trunks ran his fingers through her hair.

"But it's true. Every day I spent training with my father or with Bulla was hard because I couldn't focus. I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Mai's heart began to beat faster and she squeezed his hands.

"I will do everything I can to make it up to you, I promise," she told him and he smiled.

"Come join us for dinner, because I'm starving," Trunks said and Mai wore a genuine smile for the first time in a long time. He picked her up in his arms and took to the air to meet up with Goten and Marron at Android 17's residence.

 **Broly's family arrives on Earth…**

Bok and Choi were busy fishing at a lake on Planet Bloss. Bok sat cross-legged holding his fishing rod, waiting patiently for a bite, while Choi lounged back, hands behind his head holding his fishing rod with his feet. He tugged at the rod by gripping it between his toes but didn't feel any give to it and he sighed.

"That earth tournament is starting soon, right?" he asked and Bok nodded.

"Yeah, in two days," Bok said as he kept staring ahead. He felt the rod jerk and pulled, feeling a bite on the hook. He smirked as he gave the rod a huge tug and he reeled in a large fish from the lake which splashed Choi as it flailed out of the water. Choi nonchalantly wiped the water out of his face and sat up, letting the rod drop on the ground.

"I can kick your butt at fighting no problem, but you've got a knack for fishing. Maybe you should take that up instead," Choi said and Bok smiled back at him.

"You don't have the patience like I do, brother," Bok reminded him and Choi sighed as he stood up.

"Whatever, bro. I'm gonna get our things together," Choi told him and walked back to their home.

When Bok brought the large fish back, Lemo waved at him.

"Very impressive catch, Bok! That's the biggest one so far," he told him and Bok laid the fish down on the ground. It looked well over 10 feet in length and about 5 feet in width. Lemo looked it over and nodded in approval.

"I can definitely make enough to bring with us on our trip to earth. When's that Tournament start again?"

"Two days. I kept track of the date Goku told us about," Bok told him and Lemo was taken aback.

"That soon? We won't get there in time by ship, Bok!" Lemo exclaimed and Bok's eyes widened.

"Wait, we're going by ship? But I thought Goku said he was going to meet us here to take us all there at once?" Bok asked and Lemo paused for a moment. He sighed when he remembered Goku's message before he left.

"Right, right. I forgot about that. When you get on in years like I do, you don't remember a whole lot of the small details. I'll take care of the fish and keep it preserved while we're gone. Go help your brother pack your things."

Broly flew over and Lemo noticed that Goku was with him. They landed a few feet in front of him and Goku waved at Lemo.

"Heya!" Goku said and Lemo waved back.

"We're getting our things ready," Lemo told him. Cheelai came out of their house with a frustrated look on her face. Her hair had grown in length a bit over the years, reaching her shoulders and her usual garb was simpler with a nice flowery dress than her combat uniform.

"Lemo, I can't find Arugula's hairbrush. Oh, hey Goku," she muttered, giving Goku a quick glance.

"Did you check the linen closet?" Lemo asked, hands on his hips.

"I checked the linen closet, the bathroom, her bedroom, the boys' bedroom, our bedroom, I can't find it anywhere!"

"Did you ask Arugula where she hid it, maybe?" Lemo asked her and Broly raised his eyebrows. He reached into his hair and felt something lodged in there. When he pulled it out, he handed it over to Cheelai.

"She was brushing my hair this morning and I forgot she left it in there," he said and Cheelai giggled.

While Bok and Choi were finishing packing up everything, Lemo went to work breaking down the large fish into individual portions and stored them neatly in their freezer. He had packed some of his best cooking supplies in a container which was stored in a capsule. He had a case which contained several capsules provided to him by Bulma for whatever he needed and he kept it in his back pocket. Cheelai gave everything one last look-over and she sighed in relief.

"Okay, we've got everything we need now. Boys! Hurry it up!" She yelled and both Bok and Choi walked out of the house with large bags packed with the family's clothes, toiletries, and food. She looked around and sighed.

"Where's Arugula?" Cheelai asked.

"In her room. We told her it was time to go but she didn't want to leave," Bok said and Cheelai scoffed, walking past them into the house. Broly excused himself to follow Cheelai into the house and he came back out with Arugula in his arm. She hid her face from sight and Cheelai closed the door behind her. Goku, waiting patiently for them to get ready, scanned the fields ahead. He could see a wide variety of crops and he walked over to poke Lemo in the shoulder.

"Hey Lemo, you sure your crops will be alright while we're gone?" he asked.

"No worries, I've built my own farming system that will handle any adverse conditions. Defense against wild creatures, safeguards against the weather, an irrigation system to keep the crops healthy. I've got it all covered."

"Man, I wish I had that system back home with our farm. Chichi would've loved to have something like that take care of things while I go off to train," Goku said and Lemo cleared his throat.

"Why didn't you bring that up when you were here last time? I'll see if I have time to look in on that while we're on earth."

"Really?" Goku exclaimed, excitement on his face. Lemo crossed his arms, smiling and nodding.

"When I'm done with your farm, it'll be the best farm you'll ever have on your planet. But it still won't compare to Bloss's finest," he said, laughing a bit. Choi sat down on top of his bag, looking bored with his chin resting on his hand while Bok adjusted his clothes. Broly glanced at his boys and cleared his throat.

"If we're all ready, let's gather together," Goku said and held out his hand, which Broly took. Arugula kept clinging onto her father's torso while Cheelai took his other hand. Bok and Choi tied the bags around their waist and held on to each other's hands as well as Cheelai's, while Lemo took Choi's hand, placing the other on Goku's shoulder so he could have access to use his hand.

"I gotta learn that teleportation trick of yours," Choi said, smirking and Goku chuckled a bit.

"It takes a while to learn though. I could teach it to you some day if you want," he said and Cheelai stared at him.  
"Choi will do no such thing. If he starts learning how to teleport, we won't be able to find him anymore," she said and glared at her son, who looked away but still had a smile on his face.

Goku put two fingers to his forehead and focused. Since he was teleporting himself and a few others, the process took a few seconds longer. They soon disappeared off Bloss and made their way to Earth within seconds.

He chose his own home to bring them to since he focused on Chichi's energy. The group appeared outside his house and Chichi noticed them appearing through the window. She quickly ran outside and was surprised to see who Goku was with.

"Goku, what's with the group?" She asked, greeting him. She took a closer look and began to recognize some faces. Cheelai waved at her and walked over to greet her.

"Hi, it's been a while," she told her and Chichi looked her over.

"I love the dress you picked out for yourself!" she exclaimed, feeling envious. Cheelai twirled around and motioned to Lemo.

"I had Lemo design it for me. I have a lot more where that's from if you want to check it out," she said. Broly gently put Arugula back down on the ground but she didn't want to let go of him. Chichi glanced over and observed their children.

"Are these your children?" she asked and Cheelai nodded.

"Yep! The two boys there are Bok and Choi, and this really shy and quiet one is Arugula," she told her and Chichi approached Arugula, who glanced over but looked away nervously.

"How old are you, dear?" she asked.

"F-five," Arugula spoke softly.

"You look so much like your mother," Chichi said and Arugula blushed a bit. Cheelai knelt down and took her daughter's hands.

"You really think so? I think she looks more like her father, to be honest," she said and Broly took a stroll to get a better view of the area.

"Your place looks peaceful, like ours," he said and Goku nodded.

"Yeah, we picked Mount Paozu for that reason. I could get my training in without distraction and Chichi could look after the place."

Uub and Pan soon came into view from the sky, flying fast and landing together. They were a little short of breath and Pan gave Uub a confident look.

"A thousand laps around the planet, full speed," she said and Uub nodded.

"Good to know you were able to keep up with me," he told her and they spotted the newcomers.

"Hey grandpa, what's with the family?" she asked and Goku approached them.

"Right, this is your first time meeting them. This is Broly, the other Saiyan I've told you and Uub about. That there's Cheelai, Lemo, and the kids are Bok, Choi, and Aru, Aree…um, areegee."

"Arugula," Lemo corrected him and Goku pointed at him.

"Yeah, that's the one!" he cried and Lemo sighed. Bok and Choi noticed the newcomers and stared at them. Bok crossed his arms and stood tall while Choi had his hands behind his head. Uub and Pan stared back, a little confused at first, but then they noticed how strong they looked when they could sense their energy, which surprised Uub most of all. He stared at Bok for a moment but then he looked more closely at Choi and frowned, the two staring at each other. Goku could feel a bit of tension escalate and wanted to say something but Choi broke the silence.

"Nice hairstyle," Choi said and Uub noticed that Choi also had a mohawk. He could see that his hands, wrists, feet, and ankles were wrapped in fighter's tape. The only other clothing he noticed were shorts with a green pelt wrapped around the waist and a necklace of fangs and claws tied around his neck. It was slightly different from Bok who wore white gi pants with the same colored pelt Choi wore but draped on his shoulders like a poncho. He wore nothing on his wrists and ankle, not even footwear. Uub felt a greater sense of determination in Choi's aura and stood tall.

"What's your name?" Choi asked.

"I'm Uub," Uub told him and Choi smirked.

"Are you strong, Uub?" he asked.

"Yes," Uub told him, feeling confident and Choi kept grinning at him.

"You're fighting in that Tournament I keep hearing about, right?" Choi asked and Uub nodded.

"Yes. I aim to win the prize money to help my village," Uub said and Choi walked over to him. Because Uub was taller, Choi stared up at him with hands on his hips.

"You say you're strong, Uub. But you know who else is strong? My brother Bok over there. However, he's never beaten me in a fight before. I don't care about prize money or silly titles. I'm in this to prove I'm the best. Hope you trained hard because you'll need it."

As Choi walked away, Pan glared at him. "Hey brat, what's your deal?"

Choi waved his hand in the air as he kept walking away. "I don't speak to weaklings."

"What was that?!" Pan yelled and Uub had to restrain her from charging forward and Broly gave Choi a look, staring down at him.

"Apologize," he commanded and Choi stopped in his tracks. He sighed, looked down, and turned around.

"I will not tolerate your behaviour while we're guests on this planet, Choi. Now apologize to the girl," Broly stated and started down at him. Choi looked uncomfortable having his father stare down at him and cleared his throat.

"Ok fine. I'm sorry. Best of luck at the tournament or whatever," he said and went to his bag. Broly sighed and walked over to Pan and Uub.

"Forgive my son's behaviour, he's been a difficult one to discipline properly. Bok does his best to keep him from behaving erratically so you don't have to concern yourselves too much. He is a skilled fighter in his own right but he's developed a lot of over-confidence. I wish he had a proper teacher to correct his behaviour so he could be more respectable to his opponent."

Pan calmed down and Uub let her go. She kept glaring at Choi as he undid the bag. Lemo took a case from his pocket and took out a capsule, which contained a spare house for them to stay in while they were visiting Earth and he set it up about a hundred feet away from Goku's house. When Lemo got the house ready, Bok and Choi moved the bags inside and began unpacking. Pan saw Cheelai and Chichi engaged in a conversation and noticed Arugula still clinging on to her mother's skirt and approached her.

"Hi," she said, waving at her. Arugula didn't say anything.

"Are you shy?" Pan asked, kneeling down and Arugula nodded slowly.

"It's okay to be shy. There's a lot of new things to look at and it's a lot to handle. My name is Pan, what's yours?"

"A-Arugula," she replied softly and Pan offered her hand.

"That's a pretty name, Arugula. Why don't we become friends? I'd love to play a few games with you," she told her and Arugula looked up at her.

"Friends?" she asked and Pan nodded, smiling.

"Yep! We can be best friends if you want!"

Pan thought of something and snapped her fingers.

"Wait here, I've got something I can give you," she told her and quickly flew off. Arugula stared at Pan as she was leaving and waited for her to come back. She looked around the area and admired the forest that was behind Goku's house. She began to walk over to the trees out of curiosity to get a better look at them. She didn't see a pair of eyes among the shadows staring at her as she walked closer to the foliage. When Pan came back, she had in her hand a stuffed brontosaurus in her arms and noticed that Arugula wasn't beside Cheelai and Chichi.

"Arugula? Where'd you go?" Pan asked and Cheelai glanced back. Her eyes widened when she noticed that Arugula was missing as well and she frantically looked around.

"Arugula?! Arugula!" she cried out and saw her daughter approach the woods. An animal with long front teeth jumped out of the bushes to pounce on Arugula but Pan quickly flew at high speed to knock the animal away, sending it flying with a kick to the head. She landed in front of a frightened Arugula and stared at the sabre-toothed mountain lion as it landed and scurried off in a panic. Cheelai quickly ran over to Arugula and wrapped her arms around her.

"Why did you leave like that? You scared me to death!" she cried out and Chichi breathed a sigh of relief. She was reminded of the times Gohan had wandered off as a boy and got himself in trouble and was relieved that Goku was there to save him. Cheelai looked up at Pan and sighed in relief, smiling at her.

"Thank you," she told her and Pan nodded, smiling back.

"Here, this is for you," she said, handing the stuffed dinosaur to Arugula. She looked surprised to see this and gently took it in her hands. She then gave Pan a hug.

"Thank you very much," she told her and Pan blushed a bit, closing her eyes. Chichi nodded proudly.

"Pan's going to be a great mother someday, I know it," she stated and Pan blushed even more out of embarrassment. She took Arugula's hand and walked her back to the front of the house.

"Tell you what," she said, kneeling back down in front of her. "Tomorrow, I'll show you the forest and you can see all the trees and leaves and small animals you want and I'll make sure you're safe, okay?"

Arugula nodded softly and held on tight to the stuffed dinosaur. She looked up timidly at Pan.

"What's his name?" she asked.

"Mr. Bronto. He chases away the monsters who lurk in the shadows. He will keep you safe at night," she told her and Arugula hugged the plush dinosaur again, smiling.

"Thank you, Pan-Pan," Arugula said and Pan's eyes widened, blushing heavily.

"Uh, a-any time," Pan said and gazed in the other direction when Uub took notice. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder as Arugula ran back to her mother.

"Looks like you made a new friend," he told her.

"More like she made a new friend," Pan stated and closed her eyes. She welcomed the warm gesture of Uub's hand and gently reached up to put her hand on top of his. They both noticed and broke free, chuckling a bit.

"Ahem!" Lemo cleared his throat and they all looked at him.

"I'm about to start dinner, so be patient with me," he informed them.

"I've already got dinner on the way, you don't need to lift a finger," Chichi told him and Lemo cleared his throat.

"But I insist. I want to cook a luxurious meal for our hungry guests as thanks for your hospitality in having us here on your homeworld."

"No, I'm not having you do anything. You're my guest and you will relax and take a load off. You work hard and deserve a break. Pan, dear, can you help me in the kitchen?" Chichi said and Lemo wanted to protest but Pan already left with Chichi back into Goku's house. He sighed and adjusted his toque, taking a pack of cigarettes from underneath and lit one up on his lips. When he finished it, he put it out on the ground and shrugged his shoulders. He walked over to Broly and stood beside him with his arms crossed.

"Don't worry big guy, I'm pretty sure Goku's wife is an excellent cook," he told him and Broly nodded, smiling.

"I look forward to her cooking as well," he said and walked into the house.

As the hours went by, Broly had a spirited conversation about how he's been able to control his anger a lot better, relaying this info to Uub and Pan, while Bok and Choi were having a small sparring session outside. Arugula had fallen asleep on Pan's lap and Cheelai smiled as she stroked her daughter's hair.

"I'm so happy she's made herself a friend. You're very good with children, Pan," she told her and Pan smiled down at Arugula.

"I've got good teachers for that," Pan said as she gave a pleasant look at Chichi, who returned it with a satisfied grin on her face. Pan carefully lifted Arugula up into her arms and brought her into the spare bedroom reserved for guests. Cheelai felt that Arugula spending the night here would be beneficial to build on her new friendship with Pan. It would also keep her out of the way for her twin boys to take it easy. She walked over and sat on Broly's lap, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Goku thought of something and tapped Broly on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Something's been bugging me for a while now. I noticed that your sons are wearing a part of your old green pelt," he told him and Broly grinned.

"I used to have them sleep under Bah's ear to calm them down when they were very little. As they got older and began to learn how to fight, I split the ear into two. Bok wears one half over his shoulders, while Choi wears his around his waist like I used to. I think Bah would've liked that as well."

"How did you meet my master, Broly?" Uub piped In and both Broly and Goku looked at each other. Goku decided to let Broly explain it to Uub as he walked outside to get a better look at the twins as they were sparring.

Broly explained as much as he could remember about fighting Goku and Vegeta for the first time, yet most of his memory was lost in his anger. Cheelai and Lemo were able to fill Uub in with as much as they could remember since most of their time was spent on Freeza's ship with the Dragonballs. They recounted their time spent on Vampa and getting to know Goku a bit more before they relocated on a planet with the help of Whis. They then spoke at length about raising Bok and Choi and the challenges that came with it, then looking after Arugula and wondering if she'll ever develop a fighting sense like her brothers have.

When the night dragged on, Pan retreated to the guest room and took up a spot on the bed opposite of Arugula, making sure not to disturb the young child. Broly, Cheelai, Lemo and the boys went to their capsule house to turn in for the night and Goku let Uub sleep on the sofa.

"Master?" Uub asked before Goku went to his room.

"What do you plan to do after the Tournament? Will you still come visit us at the Island?"

Goku thought it over with a hand to his chin and laughed it off. "Of course I'll visit! But right now I'm just excited to see how far you'll go in the Tournament!"

"You've been a very good teacher, Master. I've learned so much about myself."

"Well, I didn't teach ya a whole lot though, you've always had the skills. I just needed to push you in the right direction," Goku said and Uub smiled.

"I will fight my hardest and win the Tournament," Uub said and Goku shook his head.

"It ain't about winning the prize money, Uub, that's not the Turtle Hermit way. Sure it'll be great if you win and all, but you should always keep a clear mind and know that there's always going to be a stronger fighter out there."

"I know, I haven't forgotten that lesson, Master. But I feel I can do very well this time and I have a good chance," Uub said and Goku crossed his arms.

"Oh, before I forget, I have something I want to give to you. It should fit you," he said and retreated to his room to bring out a box that he handed over to Uub.

"What's this?" Uub asked.

"Open it," Goku told him and Uub lifted the lid off. Inside was an old orange and blue gi Goku used to wear and Uub's eyes lit up.

"I was about your size and height when I fought Piccolo in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, and that was before I married Chichi," Goku told him as he glanced outside the window. He imagined Piccolo meditating at the base of a tree but knew that he had returned to the lookout for now until the day of the Tournament began.

Uub decided to put on the old gi, whose colors had faded with age and it fit relatively well on him. He smiled as he looked down at the outfit.

"I had Piccolo fix the fabric since it was all torn up. It's still an old gi, but I knew at some point I'd either give it to Gohan or Goten. I think seeing you wear it makes sense."

"Thank you so much, Master. I've never seen this emblem before. This isn't the Turtle Hermit symbol though," Uub stated as he examined the emblem on the front.

"That's Kami's symbol, the one who was Guardian of Earth before Dende," Goku said and Uub felt the blue shirt underneath. It felt heavy now that he realized it and he glanced at Goku.

"You fought in the tournament wearing weighted gi?" Uub asked and Goku nodded.

"Yeah. Over two hundred kilos altogether," Goku said and Uub nodded. He was used to heavier weights but did feel the give on this one as well and felt this would be adequate for him to fight with.

"Tomorrow we'll leave for Papaya Island. I imagine everyone else will gather there," Goku said and waved at Uub before retreating to his room. Uub got out of the gi and set it back in its box. He wanted to save it until the day of the Tournament and dressed back in his regular clothes before turning the light off and lying down on the sofa.

 **Papaya Island…**

Bulma piloted the aircraft with Vegeta in the passenger seat. He looked out of the window and could see the familiar island come into view. Bulla sat in the back opposite New 16, who stared ahead. Vegeta didn't acknowledge 16 very often. When he saw him for the first time, he glanced at Bulla, then at Bulma, walking away without saying a word. Bulma figured that he didn't care enough to neither praise nor scold the two for rebuilding android 16 and left it at that. Bulla had some time left to train with her dad in the gravity room before the Tournament started while 16 assisted Bulma and Dr. Briefs in the lab. Vegeta did express pride in his daughter's improvement and felt satisfied that she took her training seriously. He asked about Trunks but Bulla only briefly mentioned that he had gone off to train with Goten at android 17's wildlife sanctuary islands and he scoffed, believing it to be a wasted opportunity.

Mai had stopped by earlier to ask about Trunks and Bulma quickly briefed her on where he was. She didn't bring it up with Bulla or Vegeta and kept that to herself, hoping that maybe she wouldn't be there at the Tournament. Knowing Trunks, the two probably reconciled and were working things out.

They landed in an open area and Bulma put the craft back in its capsule. Bulla was ready for the Tournament, wearing a loose fitting t-shirt with the company logo and bicycle shorts. She tied her hair back in a ponytail and looked around the area. There were a lot of people gathered on the island already and she was surprised at the numbers.

"Isn't this crowd larger than the previous tournament?" she asked and Bulma nodded.

"Yep. Ever since Hercule announced his retirement, everyone's been eager to see who will become the new champion."

"If I win this, I'm going to redesign that championship belt," Bulla said, smirking and Vegeta glanced behind him. He could sense Trunks's energy coming and stopped.

"Go on ahead, I'll stay here and wait for Trunks," he told them and Bulla cocked an eyebrow.

"You sure you don't want me to stay as well? It's been a few months since I last saw him too," she said and Vegeta stared ahead.

"He's not alone, I can sense someone else with him," he told her and Bulla's smile disappeared. She thought she could sense Goten's energy, but he wasn't in the craft with Trunks. She frowned and stared at the craft as it landed on the ground and two people climbed out. Trunks and Mai noticed Vegeta standing there with his arms crossed and he stared at the two.

"Hey father, glad to see you back. How did it go with Whis and Lord Beerus?" he asked.

"You were supposed to train with your sister," Vegeta told him and Trunks looked back, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, father. I've been preoccupied with a few things for a while and I didn't want that to interfere with Bulla's training, so I let her use the gravity room at her leisure. I hope she got stronger."

"I have," Bulla said coldly, staring at Mai. Mai averted her gaze and waved politely at Bulma. She wanted to say hello to Bulla but she turned around quickly and stormed off. 16 looked a bit confused for a moment, then followed Bulla into the main concourse. Mai breathed a heavy sigh and looked at the ground with a saddened expression.

"She hates me. I don't blame her," Mai said openly, grabbing her other arm.

"Give her time, I think she'll come around at some point," Bulma said and could see that Trunks's face looked a bit more chipper than before.

"I'm glad you two got back together," she said and turned around, wrapping her arm around Vegeta who gave her a look but stared ahead and they both walked away. Mai and Trunks glanced at each other.

"That went well, I guess," she said and Trunks took her hand in his.

"Mom's right, Bulla will eventually forgive you so we'll give her some space. But I'm more curious about the other one. I've never seen him at Capsule Corporation before but maybe Bulla made a new friend while I was away?"

"Why are we still in the parking area? Let's go join them," Mai said and jogged onward, pulling Trunks behind her.

A few moments later, Krillin landed with android 18 in the parking area and they got out of the vehicle.

"Wow, sure looks a lot busier this time around," he said. He had regrown his hair and grew a bushy mustache, their colours having grayed over time. He was still in full uniform but with many emblems on his blazer, indicating his rank as police commissioner. 18 crossed her arms casually and stared ahead.

"You didn't have to bring me here, you know. I could've gone myself," she told him.

"I wanted to see you off before I head to work," Krillin responded and she smiled down at him, ruffling his hair. She bent down and kissed him on the forehead.

"So what did you have in mind with the prize money should you win it?" he asked.

"Set it aside for Marron. If and when she and Goten get engaged and settle on a date, I want to be able to get them wedding gifts," she said with a smile on her face.

"That might not be for another few years though, don't you think?" Krillin stated and 18 glanced down at him, frowning.

"They've been together long enough; I think it's time they got married."

"Yeah," Krillin said and the two shared a kiss before he climbed back into his aircraft.

"Good luck, 18!" he yelled over the roaring engine of the craft and took off to the air. She waved at him and went on ahead.

Goku's group came shortly afterwards. Broly's family, Uub, Pan, and himself all teleported from his house to the front gate and his face lit up with excitement at the amount of people gathered. Piccolo had joined them earlier in the morning since he wanted to be near Uub and Pan to see how well they would do in the Tournament.

"Tournament days are so fun! I can't wait to see you guys fight!" Goku cried, almost jumping for joy. Uub and Pan chuckled a bit and took in the sights of the island. There were a lot of concession stands with food, and carnival games to play for the children. There was also a section with other tournament participants signing autographs and a large crowd had also gathered around Hercule and Buu. Goku could see the two off in the distance and was surprised at Buu's appearance.

"Hey, I can see Hercule and Buu!" Goku exclaimed and ran over to them. Uub reflexively darted his eyes around, searching for Buu.

"Hey!" he cried out and both Buu and Hercule turned to face him as he finished the last of his singings, waving at Goku happily.

"Oh! It's great to see ya again, Goku!" he yelled and Goku had an excited look as he eyed Buu. Buu trimmed down like he did in preparation for the Tournament of Power years ago and Goku felt Buu's confidence through his renewed look.

"You look great, Buu! I haven't seen you like this since before the Tournament of Power! I hope you won't fall asleep on us again," he said, laughing and Buu rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

"I already had my nap, so I'm ready," he said and the rest of Goku's group caught up to him. Uub stopped when he saw Buu up close and felt more apprehensive.

"Uub? You okay?" Pan asked, glancing up at him.

"Y-yeah, I'll be fine."

Buu noticed that Uub was staring at him and tilted his head out of curiosity. He approached him and Uub took a small step back.

"You have a familiar aura. Have we met before?" Buu asked, then examined him further. He snapped his fingers through his boxing gloves and a smile crossed his face.

"I know, you were me once," he asked and Uub's face turned red. He looked down nervously.

"Y-yeah. I don't want to talk about it though. Excuse me," he said and walked quickly past them. Buu sighed, a little saddened.

"Did I say something wrong?" he asked and Goku waved it off.

"It's okay, he's still adjusting. But I think if you two got to know each other a bit more, he'll realize you're not a bad guy."

"I don't like this, Goku," Piccolo piped in. Goku frowned a bit and crossed his arms.

"We spent as much time training him in the chamber but we didn't focus a whole lot on developing his aversion to Buu. I'm worried he might make a mistake should they end up fighting each other."

"He'll be fine," Goku said with a confident expression on his face. Pan looked worried for Uub as well and felt a tug on her arm. She turned around and Arugula walked up to her, taking her hand.

"Can we go play some games, Pan-Pan?" she asked and Pan smiled a bit.

"Sure, I'll win you something big, how about that?" she said and Arugula nodded, smiling. She kept close to Pan as the two went off to the carnival section and Goku noticed android 18 approach them.

"Ah! Hey 18! Are you here to participate in the Tournament?" he asked and she gave him a coy smile.

"Why else would I be here? Anything with a lot of prize money I'm guaranteed to show up for," she said and saw Broly's family behind them. She didn't notice Buu towering above her and she reeled back in surprise. She took a few steps back and waved at them.

"Um, I'm going to get in a few sights before I register. Later," she said and strolled past them. Bok and Choi glanced at her as she walked by and Choi scoffed.

"Between that woman and whatever that pink thing is my chances of winning keep getting better and better," he stated with a grin on his face and Bok cleared his throat.

"You can't be sure of that until you fight them," Bok told him and Choi chuckled a bit, putting his hands on the back of his head. Just then, someone bumped into him from behind and almost knocked him forward. He was stunned that he almost fell and turned around with an angered look on his face. The girl who bumped into him rubbed her nose.

"Ow," she said.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, you idiot!" he yelled and the girl rubbed her nose.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried and Pan turned around to see what was going on and her face lit up.

"Bulla!" she cried out and Bulla waved at her, rubbing her nose. She backed away and bowed at Choi.

"I'm sorry! I got distracted," she said and when she got a good look at him this time, she froze. Her eyes widened a bit and she felt her cheeks get red and her face go flush. She could feel her heart begin to beat faster as Choi stared back, annoyed.

"What's with you? Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked and walked away. Bulla put a hand to her chest and could feel her heartbeat. _Woah…_

Pan waved at Bulla but she was still transfixed on Choi as he walked away and Pan waved her hand in front of her face.

"Hey! Earth to Bulla!" she cried and Bulla snapped out of it, staring at Pan.

"Huh?"

"What was that?" Pan asked and Bulla sighed, a smile coming across her face.

"More like who was that?" she sighed and Pan turned around.

"Tch, him? He's a brat," she said but Bulla put her hands to her face, embarrassed.

"Ahem," Bok piped in and the two girls glanced at Bok. Bulla glanced over from Bok to Choi and back to him and sighed even more. _There's two of them…_

"Is she okay?" Bok asked, pointing at Bulla and Pan cleared her throat. She let Arugula stand beside Bok and moved Bulla to an isolated area, shoving her forward. Trunks, Mai, Bulma, New 16, and Vegeta walked up to Goku and Broly.

"Wow, everyone's all here!" Goku exclaimed. He cocked an eyebrow when he saw 16.

"Hey, isn't that…" he began and Bulma put her hand on 16's shoulder.

"We rebuilt him, if that's what you're wondering about," Bulma told him and both Goku and Piccolo looked astonished.

"To think we'd ever see Android 16 again," Piccolo whispered and Goku smiled at the redesigned android.

"He looks way younger than the last time we saw him, that's for sure," Goku said and 16 glanced at him. "Uh, no offense."

"I am not offended," 16 said and was staring at Buu for a moment.

"Hey, why don't you have a seat on one of those benches for now?" she asked and 16 walked over to sit down. Vegeta, meanwhile was more preoccupied with Broly and his family. When he glanced at Bok, he could sense that the boy had quite an imposing aura about him. He was also curious about the kid with the mohawk who looked disgusted seeing some stuffed animals on display and he grinned.

"You've managed to produce strong offspring from the looks of them," he said and Broly smiled.

"They have expressed a great deal of excitement for this Tournament," Broly said and Vegeta glanced over at Trunks and Bulla.

"We should get everyone who's participating registered," Piccolo informed them and Goku nodded.

"I'll go find Uub," he said and ran off.

"Choi! Come!" Broly barked and Choi glanced back at him. He walked casually with his hands on his hips and occasionally glanced at Vegeta and Trunks, smirking as he walked past them. Vegeta frowned and motioned to Trunks.

"Be very careful with that one if you ever face him. I know that confidence very well," Vegeta told him. He knew this because he had that same look himself long ago.

Lemo had gone to get a couple food items from the food stands and felt disgusted when he took a bite from one of the Takoyaki balls.

"You call this edible? Blech," he said, spitting it out and Cheelai grabbed the platter out of his hand.

"Lemo, please don't get competitive with the cooks here," she muttered and Lemo scoffed at the food stands.

"How long is this tournament gonna take?" he asked.

"We have until the end of the day to register. The World Martial Arts Tournament takes place over the duration of the week with festivities at the opening and closing of the ceremony," Piccolo told him and Lemo nodded.

"Perfect. I'm gonna need one of those booths to set up. Miss Bulma, will you give me a hand?" he asked.

"Huh? Uh, okay," Bulma replied and Lemo went over an impromptu plan which basically involved Bulma paying one of the cooks to take the rest of the week off and let Lemo take over. Lemo stared at the empty kiosk and rubbed his hands together.

"I'm going to be the World Champion of combat food," Lemo said with a wicked grin on his face and Cheelai covered her face with her hand, sighing.

Pan, who nudged Bulla away from the group, leaned up against the wall.

"I hope he cheers for me when I fight," Bulla said as she kept staring at Choi. She closed her eyes and giggled. Pan gave her a look and rolled her eyes.

"The first boy you have a crush on after a while is that egotistical brat?" Pan stated, crossing her arms.

"Well, you don't know that for sure. He looks so wild and untamed," Bulla said, hand to her chest. "I've never seen a boy able to do that to me before with looks alone."

"That's probably because your dad chased all those other boys off," Pan said with a smirk and Bulla glanced over at the twins again. She kept staring at Choi as he was being talked to by Cheelai and Bulla waved at him as he walked by but was ignored as he rolled his eyes listening to Cheelai talk to him. Arugula ran up to Pan and tugged on her sleeve. Bulla looked down at the girl and blushed. _Oh my god she's adorable._

"Hi Arugula. This is my friend, Bulla," she said, and Bulla bowed politely at her.

"Pan-Pan, do they have ice cream here?" she asked.

"You bet they do," Pan said.

"Is it like Uncle Lemo's ice cream?" she asked and Pan hesitated for a moment.

"Um, I don't know," she said. "But I'm sure it's just as good. C'mon, let's go together."

As they were walking, Arugula took Pan's hand. She was still holding onto Mr. Bronto that Pan gave her yesterday, clutching it tightly against her.

"Hey Pan, how come your mom and dad aren't here?" Bulla asked, glancing beside her.

"Dad's got a seminar today, but he booked the rest of the week off to come see me fight. They'll be here before the Tournament starts though," she said.

A boy ran past them and took Arugula's stuffed dinosaur out of her hands. She looked shocked at what had just happened and began to cry. Bulla and Pan glared at the kid and moved at high-speed to grab him before he ran off.

"Where do you think you're going, mister?" Bulla asked.

"That ain't yours. Give it back," Pan said and the kid struggled to move free.

"Okay! Okay! Don't hurt me, here!" he said and shoved the dinosaur back to Pan, running off. Pan sighed as they walked back to Arugula who was still crying.

"Here, I got Mr. Bronto back for you," Pan said and handed the stuffed animal back to her. Arugula calmed down and wiped her face, holding Mr. Bronto tightly against her.

"Th-thank you, Pan-Pan," she muttered in Pan's chest and Pan smiled, closing her eyes.

"Anytime."

Bulla felt a lot of empathy towards Pan as she saw how much she cared for the little girl and glanced over to an ice cream stand.

"Wait here, I'll go get the ice cream," she said and ran over to the stand.

They found themselves a bench to sit on and they ate quietly. Arugula was a bit messier, getting some of it on her dress and on Mr. Bronto. The ice cream was melting rather quickly under the hot sun and Pan ate hers quickly. Bulla ate hers just as fast but grabbed her forehead from the sudden ice cream headache she felt.

"Augh, how come you didn't get brain freeze?" she asked Pan and Pan giggled.

"I ate it more carefully?" she said, shrugging her shoulders and Arugula smiled up at her, her mouth and cheeks covered in ice cream drippings. Pan and Bulla both laughed as Pan took a cloth from her pocket to wipe Arugula's face and hands with.

"Do you think the others went to register already?" Bulla asked as the brief pain subsided and Pan shrugged her shoulders.

"Let's go find them," she said and took Arugula's hand. It still felt sticky from the ice cream but she ignored it for now.

Past the dessert stands was the entrance to the Tournament grounds. Two monks were setting a table up with a stack of papers and writing utensils. Pan and Bulla quickly caught up to the group as they stood there, waiting for the monks to begin registrations.

"Where's grandpa and Uub? They didn't come back yet?" Pan asked and Piccolo shook his head.

"There's no need for them to rush. For now, let's get ours out of the way," Piccolo told her and she let Arugula run back to Cheelai.

"Registration is now open. Whoever wishes to participate, please come forward and state your name," one of the monks said and Bok and Choi stepped forward.

"Bok."

The monk wrote the name down.

"Choi," he said with a smirk and the monk wrote the second name down. Broly and Cheelai motioned to Piccolo.

"We're going to find a place to eat," Cheelai said and escorted their children with them. Bulla, Pan, and Trunks stepped forward and registered their names and left with Vegeta and 16 to join up with Broly's family. Piccolo stared off in the direction Goku had run off to meet with Uub and he had an uneasy feeling in his gut. Something was off but he couldn't put his finger on it. He felt he needed to look into it more and walked back the other way.

Goku was still searching for Uub.

"Uub! Are you here?" he called out. He noticed he was surrounded by food stands and he licked his lips, feeling hungry. He could sense Vegeta and Broly close together and figured they must be looking for a restaurant and was very eager to go join them.

"Goku! Come quick!" came Uub's voice from a few feet away. Goku picked up on Uub's voice and ran towards the edge of the wall. When he turned around, he saw Uub looking down at an unconscious humanoid male. Goku's eyes widened when he saw the body lying face-first on the ground.

"I found him like this. Do you think he got mugged?" Uub asked and Goku examined him more closely. He turned the figure over on his back and Uub gasped. His face and tattered clothes were covered in his blood and Goku raised an eyebrow at the stranger, unsure what to make of him.

"What happened to him?" Uub asked and Goku's face became more serious.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – "A rejuvenated Kelerot and a grand feast."**

Goku knelt down to check on the unconscious man's pulse. "It's very faint. If we don't heal him soon, he'll die."

Goku turned to Uub. "He won't be able to swallow a senzu bean in his condition. Go and get Buu, he can use his healing power."

Uub began to feel anxious. He had never seen this much blood before and the thought of going to Buu made him feel even more uneasy. Goku stared at him, frowning.

"Hurry!" he cried and Uub snapped back to normal.

"Right!" he yelled and quickly ran back to Buu, who was still hanging out with Hercule greeting a new group of fans who had just arrived on the island. Uub ran as fast as he could and stopped short of bumping into the pair.

"Hey kid, slow down," Hercule stated, worried Uub might crash into them.

"Buu! I need your help. There's a man dying and he needs to be healed badly!" he cried out and Buu raised his eyebrows. His eyes still looked like they were closed but he could still see that there was a look of grave concern on Uub's face. He ran off after Uub and rounded the corner to where Goku waited for them.

"Quickly!" Goku yelled and Buu immediately went down on one knee and hovered his hands over the man's body. He channeled energy and used his healing magic to coat the body in a warm greenish aura. It took a moment, but the cuts, bruises and blood disappeared on the man's face and clothes. Buu even repaired the damaged fabric and when he was finished, he stood back up. Uub breathed a sigh of relief and offered his hand to Buu.

"Thank you, Buu. I'm sorry I doubted you before," he said and Buu took his hand.

"It's okay. I want to help whoever is in trouble. Hercule would want that as well," he said and casually walked back to meet up with Hercule and the group of fans.

The man on the ground opened his eyes slowly and sat up, holding his head. But he realized something was off and he looked around, frantic.

"Hey, it's okay. You're all better now," Goku told him and the man quickly got to his feet.

"What…just happened?" he said, looking at him cautiously.

"You were found lying here covered in blood. If we hadn't healed you, you would've died," Goku said and the man's eyes widened a bit.

"Yes, I do remember that part. In the back of my mind, I could feel something warm all over my body. I don't know what it was but I feel fine now."

He closed his eyes for a moment, then they shot back open in surprise.

"I feel more than fine! I don't feel any pain whatsoever!" he said and an expression of pure joy came over his face as he began to laugh. He walked over to Goku and took his hands.

"Thank you, thank you whoever you are," he exclaimed and looked over at his clothes.

"Uh, forgive my attire, I'll find something better to wear. But first, where am I?" he asked and Goku raised an eyebrow.

"You're on Papaya Island," he told him and the man looked at Goku, confused.

"Which planet? Which universe?" he asked and Goku looked back, equally confused.

"You're on planet earth. As for which universe, I'm not sure I remember," he said as he had forgotten that they were in the Seventh Universe.

"I'll figure it out eventually. Now, about these clothes," he said and closed his eyes. A bright white aura shimmered around his clothing and they changed into a simple black garb with a sleeveless coat draped over it. He looked it over and smiled.

"Much better. I was getting tired of seeing those dirty rags," he said and could tell Goku and Uub were a bit confused.

"Oh, I should introduce myself, shouldn't I?" he said, laughing a bit. "My name is Kelerot."

Goku paused for a moment, then looked at Kelerot more closely.

"Kelerot. Does that mean you're a…Saiyan?" he asked and Kelerot nodded.

"Yes. I hope that's not something to be worried about?" he said and Goku raised his hands.

"No, I'm surprised that's all. I've only ever seen Saiyans from a different universe and they don't look at all like you. But I know that a name like Kelerot sounds like a Saiyan name so it's strange to see one with your appearance."

"Wait, are you saying you're a Saiyan too?" Kelerot asked.

"Yeah," Goku nodded and Kelerot walked a bit closer, looking him over.

"I really must be in a different universe if there are hairless Saiyans like this," he said. "Even your name doesn't sound remotely Saiyan."

"Ah. Goku's my earth name. My Saiyan name is Kakarrot," he said and Kelerot raised his eyebrows.

"That does make a bit more sense," he said and crossed his arms. Goku glanced at Kelerot's physical stature and could see his arms and legs have a definite muscle tone to them through his fur.

"Do you guys fight a lot too?" Goku asked and Uub was a bit at a loss for words about how to process all of this. Goku very rarely talked about his heritage and only spoke briefly about some of his fights and here another Saiyan shows up out of the blue.

"I am trained in combat, yes." Kelerot said, putting his hands behind his back. He stood in a militant pose and Goku's face beamed with excitement.

"That's awesome! We should have a bit of a sparring session to see how strong you are!" he cried and Kelerot blinked, turning to Uub.

"So soon? Okay." He turned to Uub. "Is he always like this?"

"Master Goku is a great teacher once you get to know him, but he's also a really good friend you can fight with," Uub told him and Kelerot smiled.

"Well, if I can get some food in me first, I'll take you up on your offer, Kakarot. Or should I just keep calling you Goku?" Kelerot wondered.

"Goku's fine with me," he said and pumped his fist in the air.

"Alright! Meeting a new face who happens to be a fighter too! I can't wait to see how strong you are!" he cried and giggled incessantly as Kelerot walked beside Uub.

"So how did you get here?" Uub asked and Kelerot paused.

"That's a bit of a long story for another time," he said. _This is definitely the Goku that I saw in Toppo's memories when I delved him. Probably best not to reveal too much until I'm more familiar with this place._

When they arrived at the restaurant that had Goku's friends and family gathered, he waved at them as he walked in with Uub. Kelerot stepped in behind them and looked around the room. Vegeta and Broly glanced up and they locked eyes on Kelerot. Vegeta looked suspiciously at him and Broly remained calm, yet they could sense a bit of tension as they stared at him. Kelerot stood by the door.

"Hey, come and join us! I'll save you a seat," Goku yelled, pulling up a chair for him.

"I don't have any money though, I wouldn't want to be a burden on your group," he said hesitantly and Goku waved it off.

"We'll take care of it, don't worry," Goku said and Bulma stared at him.

"Who's 'we'? You pop in with a stranger and expect me to pay for his food?" Bulma asked and Goku put his hands together pleadingly.

"Please? It's the least we can do after healing him, Bulma. He's gotta be super hungry as well."

Bulma stared at Goku, then glanced over at Kelerot, who waited patiently by the door. She looked to Vegeta for advice but he was ignoring her and let out a huge sigh.

"Fine. Come on, we'll pull up a chair for you," she said and Kelerot walked over to their table.

"If there's anything I can do to repay you all, name it. My people believe in rewarding good deeds," he said, looking down. His tone carried a bit of sadness behind it as he sat down beside Uub. Broly's family were seated together in a separate table, while Goku's and Vegeta's group were at the main table. A loud growl came from Kelerot's stomach and he chuckled a bit, putting a hand down on it as though trying to suppress it. It's a rare feeling for him to have after so long, but it made him feel like he was back on planet Gardenia with his friends. He felt he could smile again after a long time had passed and could tell the relaxed nature of the group he found himself with. There was something oddly familiar about the way Goku conducted himself, like it reminded him of one of his friends. _Spinac would've gotten along really well with him._

"My name's Kelerot, by the way," he said and Vegeta cocked an eyebrow.

"Kelerot," Vegeta said, staring at him. "That's a Saiyan's name. Don't tell me you're-?"

"Yes, it does. Goku's mentioned that he was a Saiyan also but this is the first time I've come across Saiyans from a different universe."

They all looked back and forth from Vegeta to Kelerot and Broly took notice as well. Cheelai and Lemo glanced at Kelerot, then at Broly.

" _Another_ Saiyan? Good God, how do they keep popping in like this?" Lemo asked and Broly eyed Kelerot cautiously. Bok and Choi glanced over as well and Choi got up from his seat to walk over to Kelerot.

"So, you're a Saiyan too, huh? Guess that must mean you're pretty strong," he told him, hands on his hips. He smiled confidently at him and Kelerot nodded, smiling down at the table.

"I do carry myself well in a fight, yes," Kelerot said and Choi pointed at himself.

"So tell me, other Saiyan, if you were to fight me, how good do you think you'd fare?" Choi asked and Kelerot glanced at the others.

"I'm not sure. I did promise to give Goku a fight at some point. Maybe afterwards I'll test your skills as well?" Kelerot asked.

"He can't. Once he's registered to participate in the Tournament, he cannot fight anyone other than his opponent in the ring. If he did that he'd be disqualified and banned from the island," Goku said and Choi stared at him, a little surprised.

"Seriously? I can't fight until my matches start? Tch, fine. I'll wait until after. At least be glad you're among other Saiyans who all are pretty strong like me."

"You're a Saiyan too? But you don't look like those ones over there," Kelerot inquired and looked at Broly and Cheelai. His eyes widened a bit.

"A Saiyan bred with a non-Saiyan. I never thought it was possible because my master Daikon usually frowned on such things and insisted we only bred with our own."

Vegeta and Goku looked at each other for a moment and Goku cleared his throat.

"Broly's not the only one, actually. Vegeta and I married women here on earth and we both have two kids each," he said and Kelerot blinked for a moment.

"I see," he said.

"You got a problem with half-Saiyans?" Bulla piped in and Bulma nudged her.

"Oh no, no I don't. Sorry, I just never thought it was possible," Kelerot said and Bulla narrowed her gaze at him.

When the food finally came, Kelerot's eyes lit up. He hadn't seen this much before since his early years on Gardenia and his mouth began to water. Goku's was as well and they were the first to dig in. Various seafood and meat platters were laid down by the servants and Kelerot shuddered when he took his first bite. He paused and savoured each bite before he swallowed and almost wanted to cry tears of joy.

"This is so delicious!" he yelled and continued to eat.

"I know, right? The food here is always the best before the Tournament! Why don't you register as well?" Goku asked and Kelerot glanced up at him.  
"Huh? Oh, no thank you. I wouldn't want to be a burden on the competition," he said and continued eating

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you implying that if you competed as well, you'd end up winning?" Bulla asked and Bulma nudged her again.

"What? It's a fair question."

"I don't want to bother this stranger any more than we have been. Don't mind my daughter, Kelerot. She can be pretty opinionated at times."

"No worries, miss...?"

"Bulma," she told him. "Call me Dr. Bulma."

"Of course. I don't mind, honestly. I don't like tournaments or competitiveness. Master Daikon emphasized equality through strength and training, that no fellow student be left behind. We trained each day to protect our villages from the beasts that preyed on us and ate our crops as we were harvesting them."

"You're a farmer too?" Goku asked and Vegeta took notice as well when he bit into a drumstick.

"My planet, Gardenia, was home to hunters and gatherers. We had twelve different tribes spread out across the planet. Some were purely hunters who hunted small game to provide us with meat, while others gathered materials and resources to make clothes and build our homes. My tribe focused on growing crops and harvesting vegetables for our large appetite. But we were constantly preyed upon by large predators such as were-boars and twin-headed falcons. They'd swoop down with a wingspan of twenty feet, picking off whatever Saiyan unfortunate enough to be in its trajectory."

Pan and Bulla gulped, pausing while a bit pale in the face before they resumed eating. Goku was the most invested in the story while Vegeta was more reserved, listening quietly while he ate. Broly and his family were too busy eating to bother paying attention to Kelerot as he recounted a bit of his planet's livelihood.

"It wasn't until Daikon arrived that we didn't know how to defend ourselves against those creatures. He trained the adults first before he allowed us to learn how to fight afterwards and the number of incidents involving predators decreased dramatically because of it and we owed a lot to Daikon for everything he's taught us. We'd probably be hunted to extinction by those creatures if it weren't for him."

"What universe is this Gardenia of yours located?" Vegeta looked up at him after swallowing a mouthful of noodles.

"The Eleventh Universe. I learned about the existence of a multiverse when I heard the Pride Troopers talk about a Tournament of Power years ago. I had no idea there were other universes besides my own."

Vegeta and Goku stopped eating and stared at him.

"The Eleventh Universe, huh?" Vegeta whispered. He began to remember fighting the Pride Troopers in the Tournament of Power. He frowned as resumed eating. He paused and nudged Goku in the side with his elbow as Kelerot went back to eating his food.

"Something about this doesn't add up, Kakarrot," he whispered to Goku and Goku raised an eyebrow.

"Well, they did have a lot of strong guys. That Jiren fellow too. Hoo boy was that a good opponent!" Goku said and Kelerot's face darkened a moment while he ate, glancing up at him. He continued eating and Pan took notice of his expression when Goku mentioned the name.

They ate until Goku had enough, tapping his stomach. Kelerot sighed happily as he leaned back in his chair.

"I haven't eaten this much in years," he said as he stood up. He stretched his arms out and Goku stood up as well.

"How about we get some exercise to help the digestion?" Goku asked and Kelerot smiled.

"I would like that, yes. Would the two of you like to join us as well?" Kelerot asked, looking at Broly and Vegeta. Broly was surprised at the offer and checked with his family.

"This is just a friendly spar, right?" Cheelai asked him and Kelerot nodded.

"Of course. Four Saiyans engaged in friendly combat. I'm pretty sure that would be satisfactory, Goku?" Kelerot asked. Vegeta glanced at Bulma, then at his kids and stood up.

"Fine with me. One-on-one fighting should be-"

"Actually, I'd like the three of you to fight me at once," Kelerot stated and Goku's eyes widened. Vegeta stared at him and Broly looked on, curious.

"You want to fight all of us at once?" Goku asked and Kelerot nodded.

"Yes. Is that alright?"

The three Saiyans looked at each other and Goku nodded with a smile.

"That's fine with me," Goku said and Kelerot left the restaurant. Uub turned to Pan.

"Did you notice a shift in tone from that guy when he wanted to fight Master, Vegeta, and Broly at the same time?" he whispered to her.

"Yeah. He was a little reserved at first but to grandpa he looked like he was enjoying the company. I can't help but feel a bad vibe."

"You felt that too, huh?" Bulla piped in and the three nodded. Pan looked at Goku as he was leaving.

"Be careful out there, grandpa!" she cried and Goku turned around, giving her a thumbs-up.

Kelerot walked forward, putting his hands behind his back. Vegeta noticed something about the way he was walking and posturing and his expression got more serious. Goku rolled his right arm, stretching them outward and Broly frowned as he took up the rear.

"Where shall we do this?" Kelerot asked, turning around to face them.

"Somewhere uninhabited far away from here. I wouldn't want any bystanders in the way," Vegeta stated and Kelerot bowed his head.

"As you wish," he said and took to the air. Goku raised an eyebrow.

"He seems a lot more confident than he was earlier. I wonder what brought that about?"

"I don't know. Let's hope that this is only a sparring session and not an actual fight," Vegeta said and the three followed Kelerot to the air. Kelerot flew outward off the island and looked around the planet for a suitable location and pinpointed a deserted area that stretched on for miles with no signs of life other than a few desert plants. He landed on the ground and began stretching, cracking his knuckles and joints. Goku did a few warm-up stretches as well and both Broly and Vegeta waited for Kelerot to make the first move, standing ready.

"It's been a while since I felt I was normal again," Kelerot said and took in a deep breath. He took a fighting stance, one foot in front of the other, one hand in front of the other that had a loose feel to it yet it was very guarded and he motioned the three to come to him.

Goku led things off and he went for a straight punch that Kelerot blocked. Vegeta and Broly flanked Kelerot on each side and went for simultaneous punches that were also blocked and Kelerot weaved himself around Goku to dance between the three, dodging and blocking each hit coming his way. He weaved his head back and forth, side to side and caught Goku's and Vegeta's fists. He spun around and hit Goku in the back with a kick while still holding Vegeta's hand and he narrowly avoided a blow from Broly who's punch got blocked by Vegeta instead. Kelerot moved in a high-speed motion as well as the other three and they disappeared and reappeared in rapid succession. The three kept moving in on Kelerot but he was nimbler, moving from side to side throwing after-images behind him that got struck by Vegeta's punches and Goku's smile grew brighter.

"This guy's good," he said excitedly and began to accelerate to strike Kelerot. His blows became sharper and faster, forcing Kelerot to block Goku's attacks more frequently but he laid into Goku with several counter blows that connected, sending Goku flying back. Vegeta and Broly amped up their speed and Kelerot weaved his way around Broly to knock him forward into Vegeta, the two falling to the ground. Kelerot landed on the ground and dusted his clothes off with his hand. Goku flew back and landed beside them.

"Dammit," Vegeta said as he stood up. Kelerot smiled down at the three of them. _I wonder how long I want to wait before I begin to delve these three?_ He thought and took up a fighting stance again.

Vegeta brushed the sand off his clothes and clenched his fists.

"Broly, can you transform without flying into a rage?" he asked.

"I'm uncertain. Maintaining emotional control as a Super Saiyan is much harder than my great ape strength," he said. His meditation exercises helped him a great deal but there were still moments where he lost his temper and Cheelai had to be there to calm him down with her soothing voice and gentle touch.

Goku smirked and he shifted his aura, channelling energy inside him. His hair shot up and changed color, as well as Vegeta's. Broly's eyes changed from black to yellow as he tapped into his great ape power and he could feel it well up inside him and the stress it put on his stability and he looked down at Kelerot as his muscular structure bulged outward a bit more. Kelerot's eyes widened a bit.

"What are these techniques you are all using?" Kelerot asked.

"It's not actually a technique. We can transform into Super Saiyans, which multiplies our power significantly," Goku said and he took up a fighting stance.

"Transform?" Kelerot asked. _I do sense a greater deal of strength than before._

"Wait, you can't transform?" Goku asked and Kelerot shook his head.

"I've never known it was possible. We only train our core strength."

Vegeta focused his power and tried to gauge Kelerot's energy but cocked an eyebrow.

"Kakarrot, something's off about his energy," he said and Goku began to focus on Kelerot's energy as well. His eyes widened a bit.

"You're right. Doesn't this feel familiar somehow?"

Kelerot cleared his throat. "Master Daikon frowned on Idle chatter in his dojo. He'd have been pretty upset if he saw you two like that."

"Right, let our fists do the talking," Goku said and he began the attack once more. Kelerot dodged at high-speed and reappeared behind Goku, surprising him.

Goku's eyes widened. _I didn't even see him move._

Vegeta was equally surprised. _I didn't sense any increase in energy._

Broly moved in to hit Kelerot but his punches were blocked. Kelerot's movements were faster and each time he blocked Broly's punches, a faster counterpunch struck him in the face. Neither Goku nor Vegeta could see his arm move for the counter, they only saw his blocks and they paused for a moment as Broly continued to attack Kelerot and get hit in the process.

"He's getting hit as he's attacking Kelerot," Vegeta stated and Goku nodded. Frustration began to grow on Broly's face as his punches weren't connecting but felt Kelerot's impact.

Goku couldn't help but smile. _This guy's incredibly skilled. He's got perfect energy control, I can't even sense when he's maximizing his power to attack and dodge. He must've had a really amazing teacher if he's moving around this well during the fight._

Goku powered back down to his base form and Vegeta looked at him, surprised.

"Kakarrot, what are you doing?"

"I think I've seen enough. This guy's really good. Broly! You can stop now, we're done!" Goku yelled at Broly, who went for another blow but Kelerot sidestepped and grabbed his wrist, holding him in place. He struggled to free himself and his anger began to rise as the frustration became more apparent. Vegeta looked on with a bit more concern at Broly.

"Kelerot, that's enough. If you push Broly any further, he'll lose control and you won't be able to stop him."

Kelerot glanced back at Vegeta and then at Broly, who was grunting and growling trying to pry his hand free and he nodded, letting the wrist go. Broly, visibly flustered and angered, went for another blow but Goku stepped in front of him, catching his fist.

"Hey! Calm down, alright? We're not fighting anymore," Goku told him and Broly was breathing heavily. He shook his head and looked down at Goku, a bit of worry on his face.

"I'm sorry," he said and powered down, his eyes shifting back to his black color. Vegeta reverted back to his base form as well and Kelerot nodded, smiling.

"Thank you, gentlemen. I had a really good time," he said and floated off the ground. "I'd like to fly around for a bit and see what this planet looks like. I'll meet you back at that island."

After he was out of sight, Goku, Vegeta and Broly looked at each other and Broly felt embarrassed, blushing heavily.

"I almost lost control again," he said and Goku put his hand on Broly's arm.

"Hey, don't worry about it. At least you were able to calm down on your own this time."

Broly began to feel the stinging pain on his face as he touched it with his hand and winced. Goku could see the bruises form from Kelerot's punches and frowned.

"These don't look like punches from a sparring match," Goku noted and Vegeta crossed his arms.

"They were. He was still pulling his punches yet you can see how sharp and heavy they look from their impact. Only two people I've ever fought before held such power behind their strikes: Lord Beerus and Jiren."

Goku's eyes widened a bit.

"Now that you mention it, his posture and the way he began to talk after dinner felt a lot like a Destroyer's behaviour, don't you think?"

"You don't suppose-" Vegeta said and stared up at the sky where Kelerot flew off.

"For a fighter his size, he's really strong," Broly piped in finally and rubbed his face, sighing.

Goku pondered this for a moment and groaned softly out of confusion.

"I can't make much sense out of any of this. If he's from the Eleventh Universe, how the heck did he get all the way out here in our Universe? Does he know instantaneous movement or something?"

"That might explain his agility," Vegeta said and Broly timidly put his fingers together.

"Cheelai's going to be angry at me if she sees me like this," Broly said.

"Don't worry about it. She knows it was only a friendly sparring match between Saiyans, right Vegeta?" Goku said, smiling as Vegeta shot him a look. Broly breathed a sigh of relief and Vegeta stared down at the ground.

"I didn't sense any bloodlust from him yet I'd advise caution around him regardless," Vegeta informed them and Goku stared up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the sun.

"I don't think he's a threat, either. We didn't have to go all out and we handled it pretty well. We know now he's skilled, strong, and fast so that should give us an idea of how to fight him next time if that ever comes up."

"We should leave him alone for now and head back to the island," Vegeta said and took off. Goku and Broly flew up in the air as well and they made their way back.

Kelerot landed on a plateau and watched as the three Saiyans flew by. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were shaking.

"I can't believe this power that's inside me. Is this the outcome of delving a God of Destruction and a Supreme Kai at the same time?" he asked out loud and was surprised at the development. He was able to get some information on the three of them as he delved them through their fight and closed his eyes. He focused his energy and began to analyze each Saiyan individually.

 _Broly. He forced me to exert more power as time went on, which would indicate that his power accelerates through the intensity of his emotional state to near limitless potential. He's strong but lacks the refined skills of martial arts to be more precise in his movements. If I had dragged it any further, he would've reached a power that would've put this planet in grave danger and forced the hands of the other two to keep him in check._

 _Vegeta. He's skilled at close-quarter combat and has an impressive array of combat techniques. One-on-one he can be more analytical of the fight and become much better later on. He's not the strike-first kind of fighter from what I could tell._

 _Goku's style is unique, kind of like my own. I can't see any limit to his potential and his array of techniques is vast. But he's hiding something from me, something that was shrouded in darkness that I couldn't see. Could he have a technique that not even delving could study?_

Kelerot smiled when he realized that there were limits to delving and he nodded.

"This will do," he said and took to the air to fly around for a bit.

When the three Saiyans arrived back at the Tournament grounds, Uub and Pan were waiting for them.

"How did it go?" Uub asked. Goku was the most excited of the three.

"That guy was so awesome! He was good, really good and I can't wait to fight him again!" his voice beamed with happiness and excitement as he stretched his arms out wide, smiling ear to ear. Vegeta was more reserved and closed his eyes, crossing his arms while Broly rubbed his upper arm with his hand and looked away.

"Vegeta and Broly don't seem to think so though, master," Uub stated and Goku waved him off.

"Don't worry about us, Uub. You've got a big day tomorrow so let's get you registered," Goku said with a hand on Uub's shoulder and Uub nodded confidently.

"I'm going to find Bulla and Trunks," Vegeta said and walked away. Broly sighed, then clenched his fists. He still felt angry, more at his lack of control than at how he got hit so many times and Goku snapped his fingers.

"Right, before I forget. Uub, you got the senzu beans on ya?" he asked and Uub took out the bag he had tucked under his gi shirt and handed it to Goku. Taking one out, he handed it to Broly.

"Here ya go, eat up," Goku said, smiling up at him.

Broly took the bean and sighed. He tossed it in his mouth and crunched it down with his teeth. When he swallowed it, the bruises on his face faded away.

"Thank you," he said and walked away. Pan could sense in him a mixture of sadness and frustration.

"He looks bummed out. Are you sure your fight with Kelerot went that well?" she asked and Goku nodded.

"I know it can be frustrating at times, but what I can say was that it wasn't because either of us were bad at fighting, Kelerot is just an incredibly skilled fighter."

"I hope he'll cheer up soon. Maybe seeing his sons fight will perk him up," Pan said, even though she still felt an aversion towards Choi and frowned.

Broly met up with Cheelai and his offspring near the beaches along the outskirts of Papaya island. She walked up to him and had a bit of a worried face when she looked up at him.

"Is everything okay?" she asked and Broly looked rather distant, staring ahead.

"I take it the fight didn't go very well?" she asked and placed her hands on his chest.

"Tell you what. Lemo can look after Arugula and the boys can mingle around the area. Why don't we take a walk on the beach and you can tell me what's bothering you?" she asked and took his hand, leading him down the sandy area and they strolled along the shore, listening to the crashing waves as they were the only two on the beach at the time. The sun began to set over the horizon as Broly stopped to look out over the sea.

"I almost lost control again," he said, clenching his fists. He felt anger rise up inside him again and Cheelai squeezed his arm.

"That's because you haven't had anyone truly test your temperament though," she stated and stroked his arm. That seemed to help him calm down the most since he enjoyed the feeling of her hands on him and his face relaxed.

"You've been able to help me control my anger that I felt a bit lost out there. Not being able to have you there with me to calm me down felt…scary."

"You're going to need to learn how to deal with your anger issues without me always being there to bail you out though. I wish we could've visited here more often, but we got caught up raising the kids and enjoying our lives on Bloss. I think some more time is needed here to help you learn."

"The meditation exercises Lemo showed me have helped a bit," Broly said.

"It takes time to heal all that emotional damage, you know. You've spent your youth growing up surrounded by anger, with nothing but your father controlling it with that shock collar of his. You've been pretty good at opening up to Lemo and I though, and I think you've made a lot of progress since then. I think you should spend more time with Goku and Vegeta. I think they would know more about a Saiyan's anger than I would."

Broly nodded and flashed the OK sign at Cheelai, who returned it in kind and they smiled at each other. Off in the distance, up on top of the roof of one of the buildings, Piccolo could see and hear what had been going on and he could sense how the fight was proceeding.

Later that night, Kelerot flew back to the island and landed on the concourse. He walked past the stands and stopped when he felt someone stand behind him in the shadows.

"Am I supposed to be intimidated by your shady presence?" he asked and Piccolo stepped out. Kelerot turned to face him and put his hands behind his back.

"How did you manage to travel all the way here from your universe and stumble in half-dead? Did you have someone teleport you here or did you do that on your own?" he asked.

"You're an inquisitive one. I didn't choose this location, I merely teleported randomly. I didn't realize your group was here so I chalked it up to coincidence. Your friends have been respectful and kind to me, and I shall do the same in return. You have my word on that."

"You looked like you were in a very bad situation," Piccolo said and Kelerot closed his eyes. He forced a grin at Piccolo.

"It's been a difficult period of time for me. Being in this environment feels more relaxing, more…free. Sorry, friend, I don't feel like discussing what happened. I will find a place to rest for the night. Go and enjoy yourself with your friends."

Kelerot turned around and walked away. Piccolo kept staring at him, frowning. _He's hiding something._

After everyone registered, the fighters gathered in the grand hall for preliminary matches the following day. Eight mini-sized rings were built to break off the groups into eight and the numbers were numerous. Over five hundred participants this time competed until the numbers dwindled to the final eight. The remaining eight were: Buu, 18, Bok, Choi, Pan, Bulla, Trunks, and Uub. The participants who lost were dejected and envious of those that made it, but a lot stuck around to wish them good luck. Quite a few of them took interest in Uub's matches, complimenting how good he looked as he was moving around. The monks set up a table with a box that had eight green balls, each with a number on them and the head monk cleared his throat, holding a sheet of paper in his hands while the other shook the box to randomize the numbers.

"Attention everyone, I will start calling out each contestant and they will come forward to draw a number to be placed in the quarter-finals. Once everyone has drawn their number, they have the night to rest up in the contestant's quarters and do any final preparations before the matches begin tomorrow. Contestant 18, will you step forward please?"

18 walked up to the box and put her hand inside. She pulled out a ball that had the number "2" on it and showed it to the head monk, who relayed the info to the other staff, and they began writing the number down. The crowd outside began cheering as the numbers were starting to be drawn and waited in anticipation. Goku was sitting between Vegeta, Bulma, and New 16 to his left, with Broly, Cheelai, Lemo and Arugula to his right and he leaned forward with anticipation.

"I wonder what number Uub will draw?" he asked.

"It would be a shame if Uub had to face Trunks or Bulla in the first round," Vegeta piped in with a smirk on his face. Cheelai crossed her arms and smiled, closing her eyes.

"Your kids are going to need all the luck they got against Choi, Vegeta," she said and both Vegeta and Bulma glared at her.

"My kids are very capable fighters, I'll have you know," Bulma told her and Cheelai stuck her tongue out at her, giving her the stink eye. Goku couldn't help but laugh.

"I forgot how heated it can get when the mothers get involved," he said and Bulma sighed, hand to her face.

"Contestant Bok, please come forward," the monk said and Bok drew his number, which read "3". His number was written down. Buu was next and he drew number "1" and Goku's eyes widened.

"Woah, 18 has to fight Buu right off the bat?!" he exclaimed.

"She is gifted, but Buu still has the clear advantage," Vegeta said with a grin and Goku chuckled a bit, nudging him.

"You're still mad about that time she broke your arm, right?" he said.

"Shut up, Kakarrot!" Vegeta yelled and Bulma couldn't help but chuckle at that.

Bulla was next and her number was "5" and Bulma cheered and whistled when she saw Bulla's name written down.

"I wonder who she's going to fight?" Goku asked.

"This sure is taking a while," Lemo said and Cheelai glanced over at him.

"So what happened to that great plan of yours? Did it backfire?" she asked coyly, smirking.

"The guy refused to sell his stand. I told him I could cook better Takoyaki than he could and he challenged me. Then I proved him wrong and he closed his stand, taking it with him." Lemo crossed his arms and frowned.

"What a shame," Cheelai said with a grin.

Choi was next and he drew number "8". Cheelai cheered loudly when she saw his name written down.

"YEAH CHOI! KICK ALL THEIR BUTTS!" she screamed and the others looked at her, surprised. Vegeta blushed a bit and closed his eyes. _Feisty woman._

"We don't even know who he's fighting yet," Bulma told her.

"Doesn't matter. Choi's got this," Cheelai said with a confident smile. Bulma clenched her fist, her anger slowly boiling up and even Broly felt a bit intimidated. Goku nudged Broly for a moment.

"Bulma and Cheelai are pretty fired up about their kids, huh?" he told him and Broly nodded, crossing his arms. But Goku could still feel a bit of tension on his face hearing his wife cheer loudly and Bulma's escalating temper getting the better of her.

Pan was next and her eyes widened when she drew her number. It read "6" on it and she showed it to the monk. Bulla's eyes widened as well and the two girls looked at each other, feeling a little embarrassed. Goku's and Vegeta's eyes lit up when they saw Pan's name written down and they looked at each other for a moment before Vegeta turned away.

"Pan and Bulla facing each other in the quarterfinals," Goku said. "Man, that match is going to be intense."

Vegeta glanced up at him. "You used the chamber to train with her, didn't you."

Goku chuckled a bit, scratching the back of his head.

"H-how did you know?" Goku asked, a little nervous.

"Because I can tell that Pan looks older. You used the chamber for a whole day," he said and Goku waved his hands in protest.

"Well, not the whole day, Vegeta! It-it's not like it was a bad idea, anyway. Pan needed help controlling her new power and we used the time in the chamber to help her practice. Besides, Piccolo took care of most of it while I focused on training Uub."

"Tch, whatever. Bulla trained just as hard in the gravity room. She and Bulma rebuilt that android to help her train with my battle programs."

Goku felt fascinated with that info as he glanced at New 16. "Sounds like she had a good few months."

Trunks drew number "7" from the box and he glanced over at Choi, who stared at him with a smile. He was leaning up against the wall after he had drawn his number and then waved at Trunks, walking away.

"Looks like you've got Uub to contend with in the first match, bro. Have fun with that," he said and Bok walked over to Uub, extending his hand.

"Let's do our best in our first match," he said with a smile and Uub took his hand, smiling back.

"Yeah," Uub said and Pan walked over to him, but not before being stopped by Bulla, who tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Pan. Um, whatever happens during our match, let's make sure we give it our all, okay?" Bulla told her and began staring at Choi again with a smile on her face, blushing a bit. Trunks looked down at the number on the ball and sighed. _Somehow I don't feel that the number seven is going to be very lucky for me._

Vegeta frowned when he saw Trunks's name written down and Goku had a huge grin on his face as he saw Uub's name being written on the board. Mr. Announcer, the long-time man of the Tournament who announced and refereed every single tournament for decades, stood with his hair greyed out. He walked up onto the fighting stage and the crowd cheered him on.

"There you have it, everyone! The four quarter-final matches have been decided. Match number 1 pits Contestant 18 versus Contestant Buu! Match number 2 is Uub versus Bok! Match number 3 is Pan versus Bulla! And our last quarter final match has contestant Trunks facing contestant Choi! See you bright and early tomorrow for the first match!"

"Now we get to see how well you've been training him," Vegeta said and Goku beamed with confidence.

"You know Bok won't make it easy for him," Cheelai said and Goku ignored it. He was feeling the anticipation of the matches coming the next day and he turned to Broly as Bulma, Vegeta and 16 stood up to walk out of the stands.

"Bok and Uub are going to have a tough match," Goku told him and Broly nodded.

"I am more concerned for Vegeta. I don't see Trunks winning against Choi," Broly said, making sure Vegeta wasn't within earshot of that. Goku glanced over at Vegeta who was just out of sight and nodded.

"Yeah. Choi's really good based on what I've seen and if Pan or Bulla face him in the next round, I hope they're prepared for it. I hate to dismiss Trunks like this though."

"He will fight at his hardest, I am sure of that," Broly said and the group began to leave the stands as well.

Mai was waiting outside the participants' area which was restricted to outsiders and she greeted Trunks when she saw him.

"Hey Mai," Trunks said.

"You don't look so happy. Congratulations on making it to the final eight," she told him and he grinned a bit.

"But I have to face that kid with the white mohawk in the first match and from what I've seen of him in the preliminaries I'm suddenly not so sure I have a good chance at winning," he said and she put a hand to his face, stroking his cheek.

"I'll be there for you no matter what," she told him and wrapped her arms around him. They shared a kiss and he put his arm around her shoulders as they walked onward.

Bulla approached Choi and he glanced at her.

"What do you want?" he asked. He looked slightly annoyed at her presence but didn't look away.

"I watched your preliminary fights," she said.

"Lots of people did, what's your point?" he replied, and began to look bored.

"You look very good in that ring. You're a really good fighter," she said, and her face was still a bit red as she looked at him.

"Of course I was. 'Preliminary fights'? Waste of my time. The real competition was among us all along," he said and she held her arm behind her back, looking shyly at the ground.

"Um, are you, um, busy right now?" she asked and Choi raised an eyebrow.

"You're weird," he said.

"Choi, I'm going to join everyone for dinner. You're coming, are you?" Bok said as he walked by the two and he nodded at Bulla before leaving. Choi waved casually at his brother without looking at him and Bulla was still looking nervously at him.

"Yeah whatever, go on ahead. I guess we can kill some time before dinner," he said and Bulla giggled, jumping up and down, pumping her fists. This weirded out Choi even more and he rolled his eyes. _Weirdo._

Pan noticed the excitement in Bulla. "I'll never understand her fascination with that brat."

"I say we let her have fun. Want to take a walk on the beach?" Uub asked and Pan smiled, wrapping her arms around his.

"Lead the way, then," she said and Uub blushed a bit, grinning.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – "The Tournament Begins! A perfect defense?"**

After some subtle persuasion from Videl, Gohan booked the week off from his busy schedule to watch his daughter fight in the Tournament. The radio played some music while Gohan looked out the window and Videl tapped her fingers on the steering mechanism to the beat of the current tune.

"I hope we make it in time before Pan's first match," she said.

"I can't feel any increase in her power so she's probably not fighting yet," Gohan said and took out his notebook. Videl frowned and snatched it out of his hands.

"Gohan, you're on vacation now. Stop thinking about work so much," she told him and Gohan fidgeted in his seat.

"But I'm not sure if I have the right date and time written down or I might have misinterpreted the last message the dean of the University sent me with regards to the subject I needed to teach next week. One last check, please?" he begged Videl and she threw the notepad in the back of the vehicle.

"Gohan, you need to learn how to relax and enjoy yourself. We're here for Pan, not for schedules and conferences. Sometimes I worry you make yourself busy on purpose."

"Sorry," Gohan said, frowning. He adjusted his glasses and noticed that the island was coming into view. He checked his watch and it read 8:35 a.m. on it.

"Good, we still have time to get there and grab a seat," he said and began fidgeting in his seat again, glancing back at his notepad.

"I think I misspelled a word, let me look at it real quick," he said, reaching over but Videl grabbed his arm, looking visibly frustrated. She sighed as he turned back around.

"I'm sorry, I've never had a vacation before. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I can't remember the last time I had time off to myself," he said and frowned, looking down at his lap.

When they landed in the parking area, Gohan grabbed the notebook but Videl put her hands on top of his, giving him a warm smile.

"Leave it, it'll still be there when we get back," she told him and Gohan put the notebook back on his seat in the craft before Videl put it back in its capsule.

The first familiar faces they met were Goku's and Piccolo's, who waved at them when they saw them come into view.

"Father, Piccolo. It's good to see you both again," he said and Goku had a huge grin on his face.

"I've saved you two seats beside us. The first match will start soon so we should hurry back," he said and Gohan looked up at Piccolo.

"How did the training go with Pan?" he asked.

"She's improved considerably since you last saw her. The both of you would be proud of her," he said and Gohan smiled. When he sensed a spike of energy coming from Pan, it reminded him of the time he had his full potential unlocked from the Old Kai. He deduced that Pan might have come across that same potential herself and when he stopped sensing her energy, a smile crossed his face. He knew she went to see him too.

Meanwhile, Pan was looking more visibly distressed as she watched the crowds enter to take their seats in the stands. Bulla stood at the archway behind her and breathed a sigh.

"Pan, will you stop? You're making me nervous looking at you fidget so much," she said and Pan kept looking around.

"I don't see mom and dad anywhere. Please let them be there," she muttered and almost fell forward in front of the sign that was erected in the middle of the lane, keeping contestants out of view of the crowd. She climbed up on the back of the sign to get a full view of the crowds and this was getting on Bulla's nerves.

"Will you get down before people see you?" Bulla cried and Pan jumped down. She sighed and kept looking back, nervous.

"They'll be there, don't worry. Focus on our match," Bulla told her and Pan nodded slowly, walking back to the waiting area.

Bok and Choi warmed up and stretched, as well as Uub. 18 looked off into the distance, peeking over the sign to see the spectators gathering and she was greeted by Pan and Bulla.

"Hey 18, ready for your first match?" Pan asked.

"Yeah," she said, smiling down at the two girls.

"Do you think you can beat Buu, though? He looks way better than his fatter version," Bulla stated, looking behind her at Buu, who was eating pastries laid out on top of a blanket, a gift that was given to him by Hercule earlier.

"My best chance is to knock him out of the ring and avoid that attack of his so I don't become candy or chocolate," she said, staring at Buu.

"I can't imagine what being turned into chocolate would feel like," Bulla said, shuddering.

"I can. It wasn't a fun experience," she said in a flat tone. The girls looked surprised but calmed down when 18 gave them a look. She clearly didn't want to talk about her experience with regards to Buu and stared out into the crowds again. Bulla turned around to look for Trunks, who had just run into the waiting area.

"Sorry, I got tied up a bit," he said and Bulla cocked an eyebrow.

"Probably tongue-tied with Mai, no doubt," she said, staring at him. Trunks blushed a bit and went to do some warm-up stretches on the floor. Bulla sighed but smiled again when she saw Choi and walked over to him.

"Hey, ready for your first match?" she asked and Choi smirked, glancing at Trunks.

"Only if he's ready. Looks to me like he's got too many things distracting him like that girl I saw him with," he said and Trunks glanced back at him, frowning.

"Please don't tease my brother, he's been in an awkward situation," she said, giving him a look.

"I don't care what he does. I'm just here to kick his butt and move onto the next round. Who knows, we might be fighting each other in the next round. Fighting a cutie like you might not be a bad experience for me."

Bulla blushed a bit when he called her "cutie" but reached up to put her hand on his shoulder and he glanced down at it, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll cheer for you if you go far if that's alright with you?" she said. Choi blushed a bit and looked away.

"Fine, whatever," he said.

Pan could feel her heartbeat go faster as she paced back and forth beside Uub.

"Pan, you really should relax," he said and Pan sighed.

"I can't help it. I don't know if Mom and Dad are there and it's freaking me out," she said.

"Pan…" Uub said, standing up from his leg stretches. He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her.

"They'll be there," he said.

"Promise?" Pan asked, looking up at him.

"Promise."

"O-okay. You promised though," she said. Uub and Pan locked eyes for a moment and Uub's cheeks got redder as they stared at each other. They slowly moved their faces closer and were close enough to kiss when the Tournament announcer's voice blared over the P.A. system.

"Welcome everyone to the 30th World Martial Arts Tournament!" his voice boomed across the area and the crowd began to cheer. Pan and Uub were surprised at the voice and their heads turned to the sound, looking outward.

"Our first match of the day pits Contestant 18 versus your favorite Contestant over the last two tournaments, Mr. Buu!" he yelled and 18 brushed her hair back. She wore her pink tracksuit and sneakers, and began walking towards the sign. Buu put the last of the pastries in his mouth and rubbed his stomach, happy.

"Uh, Buu? You're up," Trunks told him and Buu hopped to his feet from his seating position. He sauntered over to the other side of the sign and both he and 18 walked out on the brick-laden path to the stairs that led them on the stage. 18 never strayed much from her usual attitude, nonchalant and carefree. She approached the stage the same way she'd approach a clothing store at the shopping mall and ignored several cat-calls from the men at the front row, rolling her eyes. _Krillin does a better job with the compliments than they do,_ she thought and couldn't help but go red in the face at the sight of Krillin's full mustache. His role as commissioner of the Metro Police Force meant a significantly bigger income and she admired his role with such fondness that she wanted to buy him something exquisite with the prize money, provided she could defeat Buu in the first round. She gauged the rest of the competition and when she saw the twins fight in the preliminaries and felt a mild sense of discomfort whenever she laid eyes on Choi.

Papaya island has been Buu's second home other than Hercule's massive multi-room mansion in Metro West. His growing popularity over the past few tournaments have earned him his own fanclub and conceding each victory to Hercule kept the idea of Hercule being the champion as well as savior of the world. Buu was surprised when he told him out of the blue that he was planning on announcing his retirement and the press couldn't stop talking about it for two months straight. It was all the rage that culminated with the announcement for the World Tournament and everyone was now talking about seeing a new champion be crowned. Buu's fanclub raided the internet with non-stop talk of Buu succeeding Hercule as the next World Champion and protector of the planet that signs showing support for Buu were plastered all over the island, with his fan club wearing makeshift hats that matched Buu's appendage on top of his head, complete with steam holes that shot out steam at the press of a button. The Club's president, a Mr. Rocky Road, led the cheering as Buu stepped forward to the stage with just as much gait in his step as it was the first time he showed up years ago.

Goku, Piccolo, Gohan, and Videl finally arrived in the stands to take their seats and Gohan paused when he saw Bulma's row. When he saw New 16, his jaw almost dropped.

"Bulma! Is that who I think it is?" He asked and both Bulma and Vegeta glanced back at him.

"Oh, Gohan! Glad you both made it in time before the fight started," she said and Gohan bowed at 16, who regarded him with a blank expression.

"I'm very happy to see you rebuilt, Android 16!" Gohan said and 16 blinked. He didn't show confusion or bewilderment and Gohan plopped himself down beside him, waving down the row at Vegeta and Broly's family. He'd have to get to know everyone else later when the first round ended.

"You should thank Bulla for the idea. To be honest, I'm happy to see him again, even though he's not the same version that you remember." Gohan felt like he was Eleven years old again and couldn't help but go red in the face. He continued smiling at 16 but the android was more pre-occupied with the fighting stage. Gohan's eyes lit up when he saw what looked like a smile on 16's face when a pair of birds flew by, their melodious tweeting could be heard when they landed near a railing behind them. Their section was still being filled up with people so the noise wasn't as loud as the section with Buu's fanclub and Gohan closed his eyes. _You may not be the 16 I remember, but I think a part of him still lives on in you. I hope you have a better life with Bulma's family than you did with Dr. Gero._

After he and Videl settled themselves in, they could feel the energy of the crowd and they couldn't help but watch the entrance to the competitor's waiting area to see if they could spot Videl.

"Hey dad, when does Pan have her fight?" he asked and Goku whispered to him, pointing to the board with all the competitor's names on it.

"Ah, I see. The third match, got it," Gohan said and Videl closed her eyes, sighing.

"I hope our Pan doesn't get too nervous out there. She's experienced a lot more since the last time she was here."

"Pan'll be fine, Videl. She had the same excitement as she did last time," Goku noted. Videl nodded but her motherly intuition still made her anxious for Pan's well-being. Gohan read the names off the board and his eyes widened a bit.

"Bok and Choi. Are those Saiyans, father?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah, they're Broly's sons," Goku told him and Gohan looked past Bulma and Vegeta to get a good look at Broly, Cheelai, Arugula, and Lemo and he waved at them when they noticed him and Cheelai politely waved back at him with Arugula waving Mr. Bronto as well, a huge smile on her face. He grinned when he saw Pan's old stuffed dinosaur in the little girl's hands and he closed his eyes. _Pan's made a new friend already._

Lemo ignored him and Broly nodded at him with a grin and Gohan waved at the family one more time before he turned to Goku.

"So that's the Saiyan you and Vegeta fought against years ago?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah. We'll talk all about it later. Let's get pumped up for the first round," Goku couldn't hold his growing excitement and his face could brighten anyone's day with how wide his grin was.

Android 18 and Buu stood at opposite ends of each other and waited for the announcer to start the match. Buu waved at his fanclub as his cape blew against the breeze, while 18 stood there, watching him.

"As has always been the custom, I'll go over the rules of the Tournament! No weapons or foreign objects of any kind are allowed during the match! You may use whatever techniques you have at your disposal. Killing your opponent is strictly forbidden and results in an automatic disqualification! The match ends when your opponent is either knocked off the stage and they land on the ground, they're knocked out and cannot come back up after the count of ten, or they concede! And as a special rule requested by Hercule himself, the retired World Champion, Contestant Buu is not to use his technique to turn his opponent into a food item!"

The fan club began booing the announcer and he could hear cries coming from them: "Aw, come on Mr. Announcer!" "That's not fair!" "That's Buu's special attack!" "We want to see Chocolate!"

Chants of "We want chocolate! We want candy!" roared from the fan club as Mr. Announcer looked nervously at Buu, then at the group who kept chanting and Buu turned around to wave at them.

"Hercule doesn't want me to turn people into food! I'm fine with his decision!" Buu said and the fan club's chanting died down. They sat in their seats looking defeated and the Announcer breathed a sigh of relief. 18 felt even more elated when she heard the news but was still was on guard and knew that fighting Buu was going to be incredibly challenging.

While the announcer was going over his brief description of Buu and Number 18, Kelerot walked up along the upper section behind the stands, stopping behind a railing to look down at the fighting stage. 18 and Buu looked quite small from his point of view but he didn't care. He leaned forward on the railing, soaking in the view and a smile crossed his lips. _This should be fun._

Not too far off was Piccolo, keeing an eye on him. For now he could see that Kelerot looked relaxed and interested in what was going on below and left him alone to observe the stage.

When the announcer left the stage, the monks began to pound on the large drums.

 _DOM._

 _DOM._

 _DOM._

 _DOM._

The rhythm began to increase as the crowd grew quiet, the announcer waiting for the fever pitch of the drums to hit before he signaled the match to begin.

 _DOM-DOM-DOM-DOM._ The drums went faster and faster as Buu stood casually, rubbing the back of his head, while 18 got into a fighting pose, raising her fists. She stared at Buu and was ready to go hard and fast with her first attack.

Gohan nudged Goku. "Buu looks impressive, did he lose weight again?"

"Yeah. Hercule told me Buu trained non-stop and rebuilt himself to fighting shape."

"That's good to know. I hope this doesn't lead to another hibernation nap like before?"

"Who knows?" Goku said and crossed his arms, his eyes looking determined to see a good fight.

When the drumming ended, a monk sounded the gong loudly and the Announcer shouted "Begin!"

18 darted right off the bat, flying straight at Buu with her arm ready for a chop to Buu's head. He stood there and absorbed the damage from the impact that caved his face in and 18 looked on, annoyed. She thought he would've blocked it but instead flew back a few feet, landing in front of Buu. _Come on, take this a bit more seriously._

When Buu's face popped back into place, he had a huge grin on his face.

"You've gotten stronger," he told her and took up a fighting stance. 18 brushed her blonde locks behind her ear and raised her fists in front of her.

They flew at each other and clashed, trading blows with each other that were blocked. 18 dodged an arm that Buu stretched out to grab her and she blasted his face with an energy ball that exploded on impact and Buu teetered backwards. She began pelting him with energy blasts, forcing him to the edge of the stage.

"Contestant 18 is employing a very aggressive strategy right at the start of the match! She's nearly got Buu on the edge hoping for a ringout!" the announcer cried and Buu's fanclub began standing up and shouting: "Come on, Buu!" "Hang in there, Buu!" "Don't lose in the first round!"

Buu made a high-speed burst to get out of the way of the blasts and reappeared near 18, who had to block an incoming punch that would've sent her flying back. She darted back towards the middle of the stage and Buu was in pursuit, still smiling.

"I wish you'd stop smiling so much," she muttered and fired another energy blast straight at Buu. He deflected it away to the sky and cupped his hands together, returning fire with pink coloured energy balls that 18 had to move around to dodge. She increased her movement speed and went around in high-speed bursts to dodge his blasts, appearing below him to blast him upward with a powerful energy attack. It took off his whole torso and all that was left were his legs and feet, which fell down. The fanclub looked on in shock.

"18 with a devastating attack on Buu that took his upper half off! Normally this would be a disqualification for killing, but Buu has surprised us in the past by regenerating his body to this extent! But if he doesn't get back up by the count of 10, 18 will be the winner by knockout! ONE! TWO!"

The announcer began his count as 18 moved her hair back, watching Buu's legs to see if they would move or twitch and she prepared herself for when Buu would move again.

"THREE! FOUR! FIVE!" The announcer continued and the fanclub began to grow restless. "Get up, Buu!" "That attack was nothing!" "She can't beat you, Buu!"

18 glared at the fanclub and some had to stop cheering out of fear of the cold gaze she was giving them, sitting back down. But the more rowdy of the bunch were still cheering on their favourite competitor.

By the count of seven, the legs nipped back up and Buu's torso popped back out, cape and all. He did a few stretches before smacking his face a couple of times. He began clapping and chuckling a bit.

"You're fun to play with!" he said and the fanclub roared. She glared at them annoyingly for a moment then focused on Buu. _I've got to come up with some sort of strategy._

She grinned a bit, which was a bit surprising to Buu. He scratched the side of his head through his boxing glove, confused.

18 flew straight at Buu again and with her hand stretched out, an energy disc formed under her palm.

"A destructo disc? That's very dangerous in this area, don't you think?" Gohan asked and Goku shook his head.

"If she's learned from Krillin, I know how well she's able to control them. She's probably got something in mind to handle Buu," Goku told him. The others beside him watched on quietly but intensely.

When 18 was close, Buu moved to dodge her but she pivoted herself to slice into Buu with the energy disc. She landed behind him and cancelled the energy under her palm. Buu looked at his right arm that got sliced and he frowned. She conjured another disc under her hand and launched it at Buu, but he caught it and dissipated the energy with his aura.

"I don't like your energy blades, they hurt," he said and 18 sighed, smirking.

"I'm testing a theory of mine," she said, walking towards Buu with another energy disc under her palm.

"Oh? What's this? Contestant 18 is employing some strategic moves on Buu!" the announcer cried out and the fanclub were voicing their disapproval. "She can't use those!" "That's cheating, ref!" "Booo!"

18 ignored the rowdy crowd and flew towards Buu. He batted the disc away from her hand but she resumed with another one in her opposite arm. He continued blocking her attempts to slice into him with the discs but he was growing more frustrated with each attempt.

"I don't like these attacks. Stop it," he said and steam clouds were puffing out from the holes in his head and arms.

"I wouldn't use these on anyone else, just so you know. I know you can take these and not get disqualified," 18 said and she narrowly sliced him clean with another disc, which he dodged at the last second. The steam clouds were getting more pronounced and the holes were whistling more loudly as his frustration grew more and more.

He began to retaliate with punches but 18 quickly dodged them and she left one of her energy discs floating in mid-air beside Buu a few feet away. She began running around Buu, moving at high-speeds to avoid his energy attacks and laid more energy discs while he was distracted focusing on his attacks. Goku's eyes lit up for a moment as he noticed what was going on.

"Wow! That's a really clever strategy from 18," he said and could see the field of energy discs 18 was forming around Buu on the fighting stage. She moved around in such a way as to avoid cutting herself on them and she almost did, coming close to getting her shoulder sliced. When she left the last one in place, she took to the air and Buu stopped his attack. When he looked around, he was surrounded by dozens of energy discs and his face began to panic a bit. Even the fanclub looked on in shock as 18 stopped in the air.

She let out a shout and moved her arms close together to make the discs move in and converge on Buu. Each one sliced parts of Buu clean off and his body was shredded by the discs. The discs disappeared after they had sliced Buu and he dissolved into several pink blobs that reconverged together. 18 used this moment to fly down and fire an energy blast straight at Buu that shot him back. He almost landed outside the ring but he stopped in mid-air and let the blast explode his body, sending pieces scattered on the ground and on the stage. The fanclub freaked out but the announcer raised his hand.

"In order for this to count as a ringout, all of Buu's body has to land outside of the fighting stage!" the announcer shouted and the fanclub cheered. 18 rolled her eyes and flew around, blasting away any remnants that were still on the ring to force the ringout. The pieces that had flown out to the crowds moved in to converge together and Buu reformed himself, using a few scattered pieces of his body to throw at 18, the putty-like rubber wrapping itself around her as a result. She cried out in panic as she found herself trapped, but looked even more concerned when she realized she was still flying towards the edge of the stage and outside.

She powered up and blew away the goo. She was still at risk of landing out of the ring and she noticed a piece of Buu was still on the ground. Aiming for it with her foot, she landed on the piece and launched herself back onto the stage.

"Contestant 18 avoids a ringout by landing on a part of Buu! Because she didn't land on the ground itself, she's still in the match!" the announcer cried and the fanclub cried foul. 18 breathed a sigh as she landed on the stage again and Buu reformed himself completely again. He glared at 18 and pointed a finger through his boxing glove at her.

"I don't like you anymore! You're using mean attacks against me!" he shouted and began to power up. 18 just stared back at him, sighing.

The area began to shake as more steam clouds shot up from the holes on Buu's body and 18 kept her focus on him. She formed another energy disc in her hand and launched it at Buu.

Buu easily dissipated the energy disc but that was enough for 18 to go all in, flying straight at him. She knew the energy disc wasn't going to be enough this time but it did distract him enough to launch her assault. She moved around Buu, but he was blocking each of her strikes and retaliated with a hard fist that slammed her to the stage. She gasped from the impact and had to recover quickly to avoid another blow from Buu, who hit the stage instead. He stretched out his arms and grabbed 18 as she flew to the air, stretching them out to bring her to the outside of the stage. She struggled to move and had to power up even more to blow away the arms with a burst of energy from her body. A few pieces landed outside the stage and 18 landed back on the stage, though she was still close to the edge. Buu was still not impressed and grew out new arms from his body, yet there were still parts of him on the ground behind 18. Goku took notice and his eyes widened a bit.

"This doesn't look good for 18," he said.

"Are you sure?" Gohan asked and Goku nodded.

"Just watch."

As soon as Goku said that, the pieces that were on the ground moved on their own and wrapped itself around 18's ankles. She panicked and wobbled, noting how the edge of the stage was an inch behind her feet and Buu flew in with that same grin on his face she grew to detest.

"Crap!" she shouted and Buu punched her squarely in the face, knocking her off and sending her crashing down into the ground. She winced from the impact and sighed when she realized she had lost. The pieces detached themselves from her ankles and went back to rejoin Buu's body.

"Contestant 18 has landed outside of the stage! Contestant Buu is the winner of this match!" the announcer cried and the crowd cheered, the fanclub roared even louder and began waving their banners and flags around, pumping their fists. 18 stood back up and dusted the grass off her tracksuit, calmly walking back to the waiting area. She didn't look at the crowd or at Buu and instead went straight ahead. Buu waved to his fanclub, smiling.

"Way to go, Buu!" "You're going to be the new champion!" "Good luck in the next round!" came the cries from his fanclub and Buu casually jumped off the stage and sauntered back to the competitor's waiting area.

"Buu is an opponent that she had no chance of winning against," Vegeta said.

"Yeah. He's got a very good shot at winning this tournament," Goku replied.

"Not if my boys have anything to do with it," Cheelai popped in and Arugula tugged at her shirt sleeve.

"Mama, when's Pan-Pan fighting?" she asked.

"After the next match, little bean," she told her. Arugula looked back at the stage and at the crowd while Lemo was already asleep from boredom. Cheelai smacked him on the back of his head and he woke up with a start.

"You better not let me catch you sleeping during Bok's fight!" she shouted at him and Lemo rubbed the back of his head.

"I won't! I won't! Geez!" he said, glancing at her, then at Broly. He touched his stomach and frowned.

"I'm getting hungry," he said and Goku's eyes lit up.

"Me too! Let's get some snacks!" he cried, hopping to his feet. Vegeta sighed, closing his eyes, but knew that he too was feeling a bit peckish, which annoyed him even more. Bulma narrowed her eyes and sighed.

"Go get your snacks, the next match won't start for a few minutes," she said and Vegeta couldn't hide a small grin as he stood up. The three Saiyans stood up and Broly looked up to see Kelerot staring ahead at the stage. He felt uneasy looking at him but Kelerot glanced back, waving at the Saiyans.

"I see Kelerot's taken an interest in watching the matches," Goku said, waving at him.

"Leave him alone, Kakarrot," Vegeta piped in and the three walked back to the food stands to get what they needed, which was going to be a lot.

When 18 and Buu re-emerged in the waiting room, Pan and Uub greeted her while Buu went back to sit down, opening another basket full of goods to eat. Choi glanced at her before nudging Bok.

"Shame she lost, huh?" he said and Bok coughed, glancing at his brother.

"Have some respect, Choi. She fought well against a tough opponent. I'll be fighting him in the next round if I defeat Uub."

"You got this, brother. Uub doesn't know what kind of fighters we are," Choi said, staring at Uub. Uub wasn't paying attention to them as he was busy talking to 18.

"You did really great out there. I thought those destructo discs looked pretty cool," he said and 18 grinned a bit.

"Thank you. I did what I could, but it's up to you to see if you can get around his regenerative ability," she said and Choi took notice, raising an eyebrow.

"Seriously? You're talking as though you know Uub will already beat my brother in their match!" Choi cried, walking towards her. Bok sighed and had to step in between the two.

"Choi, leave her alone. Go warm-up against your opponent," he said and Choi scoffed at him.

"Tch, whatever," Choi said, walking away. Bulla kept staring at Choi with a smile on her face and Trunks glanced down.

"You seriously like that kid?" he asked her and she sighed happily.

"He's like a dream come true for me," she said, blushing. Trunks gave her a look and glanced over at Choi, who eyed him with a smirk on his face. He gave Trunks a thumbs-down motion and Trunks glared back, annoyed.

"Cocky kid. Someone ought to knock him down a few," Trunks muttered but Bulla ignored him. She quickly walked over to him.

"I hope your brother does well in his match," she said and Choi glanced at her, not having noticed her earlier.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, sure," he said, leaning back against the wall. She leaned beside him and he rolled his eyes.

"When the matches are over for today, do you want to go for a walk along the beach? I'd love to watch the sunset sometimes," Bulla said, blushing again. She kept looking at Choi but he was more aloof, staring ahead.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Let me know when my match's coming up, I'm going for a nap," he said and walked away. Bulla was too smitten to care about him blowing her off and she put a hand to her chest, sighing.

Uub did a few last stretches while Pan was sitting down against a wall. He completely avoided looking at Buu while he was eating and stretched his arms and legs with his back turned to him. Pan glanced at the gi he was wearing and noticed that it was different.

"I've never seen you wear that gi before," she said and Uub glanced at her mid-stretch.

"This was Goku's. He gave it to me before we got here so I'm wearing it in his honor," he smiled. Pan felt the admiration in Uub for Goku when he wore it and put her hands behind her back, grinning down at him.

"Grandpa really likes training with you," she said. "He's always been happy when he's sparring with you. That time in the chamber really felt like it was the best time of his life."

Uub rose and did a small bow with his head. "I will do my best to make sure he appreciates my strength."

"He always does, Uub," Pan said, smiling. She stared at him and she felt a warm feeling come over her again as she continued looking at Uub. She felt comfort and tranquility every time she was beside Uub now and her cheeks went red each time he looked back at her. They stole a few glances and smiled at each other, waiting for the announcer to begin announcing the next match.

Goku, Vegeta, and Broly came back to their seats with an armful of snacks. Goku passed a few items to Gohan who happily obliged and the women all looked at them. The three Saiyans glanced at them and at each other, but began eating anyway.

"You really couldn't wait until after the quarterfinals for dinner?" Bulma asked and Vegeta ignored her, popping a few items into his mouth. Lemo looked at the three with disgust, and sighed.

"Can't believe you three are eating that junk. I still think I should invest in a food stand while we're here so I can make a few zenni on the side," he said and Cheelai elbowed him on his side, her arms crossed and her eyes closed. Broly shared his food with Arugula and she smiled when she took a bite into a seafood flavoured snack and sighed happily at the taste.

"At least the little bean likes it," Cheelai said, smirking. Lemo scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Tch. Arugula likes anything you put in front of her, she's never been picky."

Cheelai ruffled Arugula's hair and smiled down at her.

"And now, our second match of the quarterfinals!" The announcer said on his microphone and the crowd began to cheer again.

Uub and Bok were standing behind the sign, waiting for the announcer to call them out. Bok had a determined look on his face with his arms crossed, while Uub stood tall, hands to his side. They both stared forward at the stage, eagerly awaiting their time to shine.

"The second match of the Tournament pits Contestant Uub versus Contestant Bok!" he cried and the two boys walked out to the cheering of the crowd. Piccolo saw Uub's gi and his eyes widened a bit. A smile crossed his lips afterwards. _Of course you'd give him your old gi, Goku._

The two walked up the steps and took up opposite ends of the stage.

"Fight hard, Uub!" Goku cried out, shouting with his hands cupped to his mouth. Gohan looked impressed and adjusted his glasses.

"Wow dad, Uub looks really beefed up since I last saw him," he said and Goku nodded, crossing his arms.

"Yeah Bok! You got this!" Cheelai yelled, standing up. Arugula pumped her fists, imitating her mother and she stood up as well.

"Fight hard, brother!" she cried and Bok had a smile on his face, looking at his family and flashing them the OK sign. Broly grinned as well after stuffing his face and he swallowed his portion. He felt confident in his son as Bok stood tall facing Uub. Although the twins were only nine years old, Uub could feel a great deal of maturity in Bok as he stared at him, then bowed at him. He took up a fighting stance much like Goku's, one hand facing forward with his fingers slightly curled in.

"He really is the spitting image of you on that stage," Bulma chimed in and Goku smiled.

"Amazing what a simple request to King Yemma would do," Goku said, easing back into his seat. Vegeta finished his snacks and stared down at the two, studying them carefully.

"I'm a little curious about what your sons' abilities are," Vegeta said to Broly, though he wasn't looking at him directly.

"They've been training and fighting since they were three years old," Broly said.

"A Saiyan's natural instinct to fight is very much apparent in your offspring. Though I can't say the same for the girl over there," Vegeta said, glancing at Arugula.

"She doesn't want any part of her brothers' rough-housing," Cheelai said, looking at Vegeta. He ignored her and began watching the stage again.

After the announcer talked briefly about the two, the drums began to sound. Bok stood tall with a wide stance and Uub looked a bit confused.

"You're leaving yourself wide open standing like that," Uub stated but Bok didn't respond. His fists were clenched as he stared at Uub, waiting for the gong to sound.

"A wide-open stance can be easily deceiving," Vegeta said and Goku nodded.

"Bok is a defensive-minded fighter," Broly stated, staring at the stage and the other Saiyans glanced at him.

"Ohh, so he's built himself up to whistand a lot of damage, right?" Goku said and Broly grinned.

"He will provide a good challenge for your student."

When the gong sounded, Uub cautiously stepped forward, but Bok simply walked towards him. Pausing, Uub raised an eyebrow. He focused his mind and flew forward, launching the first attack that was blocked by Bok's forearm. He grabbed Uub's arm as he blocked it and brought up a knee to hit Uub in the gut, but that was easily blocked as well. Uub and Bok started picking up the pace and blocked each other's blows.

Bok grabbed Uub's forearm again as he went for a forward punch and threw him over his shoulder to the ground. Uub quickly responded by adjusting his momentum and put his hand out to catch his fall and he twirled around to kick Bok in the back of the head. This stunned Bok as he staggered forward and Uub followed with a roudhouse kick to Bok's back which sent him flying forward. Bok stopped his motion by planting his feet on the stage and narrowly avoided Uub's follow-up strike with a quick glance behind him. He went to grab Uub by the gi and throw him over the edge of the stage but Uub quickly ducked down and swept Bok's legs out. Bok moved out of the danger zone with a high-speed burst and Uub followed suit.

The two were flickering back and forth around the stage, reappearing to strike each other. The crowd couldn't believe their eyes as they were having trouble watching nothing but two blurs darting around the fighting stage. Goku, Vegeta, Broly, Gohan, Piccolo, and even Kelerot were able to keep up with watching the fight go on and Goku couldn't stop smiling. Cheelai looked at the action, stunned.

"I can't see him. What's going on?" she said.

"Bok is handling things well," Broly told her and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Uub and Bok reappeared for a brief moment but that allowed Bok the momentum he needed to hit Uub in the chest with a double palm thrust while his feet were planted firmly on the stage. Uub flew back from the impact and dragged his feet along the stage, fragments and shards flying off from where Uub was and two trails were left on the stage as Uub stopped himself from going any further. Bok grinned as he punched his open palm with his fist and nodded.

"You're not as fast as my brother, but you've done quite well!" Bok shouted over the distance and Uub smirked. He took up a fighting stance once more.

"I can start to see the difference between you two. I guess your brother favors speed and you favour brute strength?" he asked and Bok bowed his head, extending his brief greeting forward.

"You'd be even more surprised at how well we work together, but by ourselves we're still quite effective. Why don't we take it up a notch?" Bok said and Uub tightened his stance. He began raising his power and a white aura appeared around him. Bok's face got serious and he too shot out a white aura around him. Goku looked impressed as the situation escalated.

"Hoo, Bok's energy is getting intense. Can he transform into a Super Saiyan?" he asked, looking at Broly. Vegeta raised an eyebrow and Broly grinned. Goku felt like it might be the case yet Broly won't say whether it's true or not until it actually happened.

Uub sprung forth once more, sending debris flying behind him. Bok readied himself for a block and when Uub's forearm hit Bok's, their energy collided and it shook the whole area, causing people to drop their food and beverages and almost topple over one another. The announcer had to cover his head in hopes that he wouldn't get hit with any fragments from the stage.

Uub and Bok darted back and forth again with their blows, blocking each other. Uub's felt more impactful but Bok was able to block the impact just as effectively. Bok caught Uub's fist as it went for his face and he pulled Uub in towards him to hit Uub with a headbutt and strike with another palm thrust to the chest. Uub staggered back a few steps, grabbing his face and Bok used this opportunity to build up energy into his fists as he planted his feet on the stage.

"He's attempting to knock Uub out with those two blows," Goku stated and Cheelai was on her feet.

"Come on, Bok! You got this!" she cried and Bok took up a boxer's stance and walked forward. He slammed a right hook into Uub's forearm as he raised his arm to block the punch from hitting his face, and had to raise his other arm to block Bok's left hook. Bok slowly stalked forward, throwing hard punches that Uub had to block. He flew back to gain some distance and Bok fired a strong energy blast with his fist straight at him. Uub dodged it and it flew out of the way as the energy exploded, causing the area to shake once more and the wind to blow around everywhere. Uub saw this happen and his eyes widened, staring at Bok. _Whoa, if I got hit by one of those, I'd be knocked out for sure._

Bok kept walking towards Uub with a slow pace, his fists glowing with an orange-red colored energy and Uub took up a fighting stance.

"Bok's acting on intimidation. He sacrificed his speed to maximize his strength so he can force Uub into a difficult situation" Vegeta noted and Goku nodded.

"Yeah. Fight back, Uub! Don't let him get to you!" Goku cried out and Uub nodded.

 _I don't want to use that technique just yet, but if things get too dicey I'll have to risk my body doing it._

Uub took the direct approach again and just as he was about to land his punch, he darted out of sight with a high-speed move that left an afterimage behind. Bok's eyes widened, expecting the blow and Uub reappeared behind him to hit him in the back. Bok staggered forward a couple of steps and Uub disappeared again, reappearing beside Bok with another hook that Bok blocked. Uub started circling around Bok with quick bursts, moving in and out of sight as he picked up his speed.

As he was doing this, Bok kept blocking Uub as he was completely focused on his movements.

Pan and Bulla watched intentely on the other side of the sign and Pan had her hands clasped together against her chest.

"Uub…" she whispered, eyeing him with a bit of concern.

"He's fighting really well. You guys must've trained really hard, probably harder than I have," Bulla said, but Pan was still transfixed on the match.

Uub eventually was able to land a hard right hook to Bok's face and it forced him out of his stance. He fell hard to the stage and slid along it his motion carrying him near the edge of the stage and Uub landed on his feet, breathing a bit.

"Down! Contestant Bok is down! I'll begin the count! ONE! TWO!" the announcer began and Cheelai had her hands clasped together to her face.

"Bok, get up, please," she muttered and Broly frowned a bit, looking down at his son. Goku was up on his feet. "Attaboy, Uub! Keep up the pace!"

Even Vegeta was impressed as he grinned a bit.

At the count of eight, Bok was back on his feet and massaged the side of his face, smiling.

"You hit like my brother does," Bok said, walking towards Uub. Uub went back into a fighting stance and decided to wait for Bok to make the first move.

"I'm glad to fight someone other than Choi or my dad for once," Bok said and Uub's eyes lit up a bit.

"Really?"

"Yeah. When I heard Goku talk about this tournament, Choi and I became more determined and excited to fight new people, even though Choi will never admit it out loud," Bok said.

"It's my honor to be your first opponent, then," Uub said, smiling. Bok slammed his fist into his palm a couple of times and looked more seriously at him. Uub gazed back, readying himself again.

"As much as I want to fight you a bit more, I'm afraid I must cut this match short," Bok said and widened his stance, planting his feet firmly on the stage. It cracked a bit under the impact and Uub's eyebrows raised a bit. _What's he up to?_

Bok clasped his hands together and thrust them to the side, clenching his fists. He began letting out a huge cry and his energy began to rise. Uub's eyes widened as he felt Bok's power skyrocket. The whole area shook as Bok built up his power and people were starting to panic.

"Bok is turning up the heat! I hope he doesn't wreck the place!" the announcer cried out as he fell down on his butt.

Broly smiled as he watched his son power up and Goku could sense Bok was getting serious with the match.

"Is Bok planning an energy attack?" he asked and Broly closed his eyes. He chuckled on the inside because he knew what Bok was planning with this next move.

With one last shout, Bok's aura suddenly disappeared and he walked to the middle of the stage. He stood still and stared at Uub, who looked back puzzled at him. He cautiously approached Bok with each step and wondered if Bok might have a counterattack ready if he should strike.

"Why is he standing like that? He's leaving way too many openings," Goku said and Vegeta's eyebrows raised.

"He wouldn't have done that without a good reason," Vegeta said and Goku suddenly realized it as well.

Uub was still very confused by the way Bok was standing that he felt he needed to do something immediately. He flew straight and attempted to land a punch in Bok's face. His confusion grew as he was anticipating a response from Bok to either block or dodge it but Bok wasn't moving an inch. When Uub landed the punch, the impact sent a wave of energy flying outward but Bok's face nor his body moved. Uub's eyes widened but resumed his focus as he punched and kicked at Bok again, each hit not doing anything.

"What the?" Uub said and he flew back, launching a large energy blast. It hit Bok and burst, leaving a cloud of dust around him. Bok still stood in place when the smoke cleared, his face intense and focused, watching Uub land on his feet.

"Bok's perfect defense," Broly said and both Goku and Vegeta glanced up at him.

"Perfect defense?" Vegeta said and Broly nodded.

"Not even I was able to make him move when he assumed that stance. He leaves himself open but nothing I did had any impact. I was amazed that he came up with that technique. He and Choi fought to a stalemate one time because of that."

"What does that mean? How does Bok win with this?" Goku asked, crossing his arms and tilting his head.

"Wear out your opponent's stamina as they constantly try to hit him and make him move. The harder they try, the more stamina they drain as a result, leaving themselves vulnerable to be knocked out with Bok's power fist."

Uub kept attacking Bok with punches, kicks, elbows, leg sweeps, energy blasts, yet nothing had any sort of impact. Uub tried to simply push Bok but he wouldn't budge and Uub grunted as he raised his power yet his feet dragged along the stage as he kept pushing Bok but the boy was as solid as a wall. He blasted the portion of the stage underneath Bok to lift him off but his feet were still firmly planted and the part of the stage he stood on remained intact while there was a small crater surrounding it. Everyone but Broly, Cheelai, and Lemo were stunned at what they were seeing, while Arugula was looking at a butterfly that flew nearby and tried reaching out to touch it.

Pan and Bulla's eyes widened as they watched Uub launch as many attacks on Bok as he could yet nothing was making an impact. Bok began to smile as he stared at Uub, noticing that Uub's breathing was starting to feel a bit labored. Uub stared at Bok, stunned. _How do I beat him now?_


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 – "A bold declaration of victory."**

 **Universe 1…**

A flash of light burst through a blue tinted atmosphere. Lord Iwen's planet looked like one giant blue sphere as the light approached it but when it entered the planet, the landscape looked completely different. There was a large forest in the distance with a single large tree floating above it on its own island. There were several stepping stones floating around like a stairway that led to this island from the forest below, and beyond it, you could see a near endless desert that looked like it was breathing, a husk of sand moving up and down as though whatever was in this desert was sleeping soundly. There were various entrances to caves and underground tunnels that led travellers deep inside the planet's core where underground hot springs were located. Along the main stretch of land, attendants were watering the gardens and tending to the flowers, cutting out any dead leaves to put them away into bags and they stopped when they saw the light pass into the atmosphere of the planet.

When the light touched down, Marcarita stepped forward. The attendants bowed formally at her and resumed their work. She nodded at them and walked over to the structure. The building was one giant illusion that revealed itself for what it actually was as Marcarita approached it. It looked like a simple entrance with three steps but when you'd approach it, the building disappeared and the stairs morphed into one long staircase that stretched up to the heavens, the top concealed behind an array of clouds.

She walked at a steady pace, her expression never changing nor her steps slowing down as she patiently made her way up to the top of the staircase.

When she reached the top, two attendants nodded courtly at her and opened the large double doors to let her in.

Iwen's domain was home to the Grand Archive of the multiverse, where everything that has ever happened since the beginning of time was recorded. Each person who lived and died has a record of their life archived, connected in part to the Network of Fates, a mysterious device of unknown origin that only the angels knew about. The Network dictated past, present, and future events for all beings in existence and their threads were marked throughout the network in a specified length, some longer than others, the Destroyers and Kais considerably longer, and the angels were made of a different color without an end, indicating their eternal life. The first room Marcarita entered was a grand hall with statues of all the Destroyers erected on pedestals. The pedestal that had Barbon on it looked new and polished, and she could see that Belmod's old statue was placed on a separate pedestal besides the previous Destroyers. Smaller versions were placed along the mural behind the main statues, several hundreds of old Destroyers were on display. Marcarita paused to admire some of them, noticing that the statue of Lady Heles was carved out of a more sleek and beautiful material, likely at her request. When she reached the next set of doors, she knocked on it with the top of her staff. Awamo, Iwen's angel attendant, answered the door and his eyes widened a bit.

"Oh! Greetings Sister, I wasn't expecting a visit so soon," he said, opening them all the way for her to step through. He could see the look of seriousness on her face and wore a grim expression.

"To journey so far from your universe, this must be important. Would you like some refreshments?" he asked, pulling up a tray of pastries and a pot of tea he brewed himself.

"Yes, please," she answered, sitting down at a long table. Awamo poured her a cup and offered her the bowl of sugar cubes at her leisure. She took two cubes and dropped them in her cup, stirring them in. Her nose drank in the sweet fragrant aroma of the tea leaves and she breathed a small sigh of contentment. When she took a sip, hummed happily, closing her eyes.

"I've missed your tea, Awamo. It was always so heavenly. I try my best to replicate the recipe for Lord Barbon but nothing could compare to your brew. I envy that about you," she said, grinning up at him. Awamo pulled up a chair and sat beside her.

"Lord Iwen is currently working on a planet to be replaced. He should return shortly afterwards once Anat has completed rebuilding the planet to a more suitable form," Awamo stated and Marcarita took another sip.

"Was the planet at the end of its life cycle?" she asked.

"More like civil unrest that had brewed on long enough. Anat and Iwen concluded that destroying the planet would be best to begin a new civilization," Awamo said and she nodded. She took another sip and put her cup down.

"So what do I owe the honor of this visit?" Awamo asked her.

"It has come to my attention there is a mortal in my universe that has been using one of the Forsaken Techniques." Her face was serious and Awamo's eyes lit up a bit.

"Forsaken techniques? Hm, I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later that we'd encounter another individual abusing them," he said and she sighed a bit, nodding.

"I'm afraid so. To think that the Zamasu incident had been resolved and that matter quashed completely, only to have another forsaken technique come out under our noses," she said and Awamo paused. He too looked more serious and he frowned.

"Which one is it?" he asked.

"I have reason to suspect that it's Kinetic Delving," she said and Awamo sighed.

"I see."

"We need to look up any prior incidents related to Kinetic Delving and find out the root of this. The mortal who used this technique didn't appear to have discovered it on his own, at least not to what Lord Barbon recounted," Marcarita said and Awamo stood up. She followed him to the archive area, a long stretch of shelves that looked endless. He led her to the section on the forsaken techniques and took out one that had been labelled "Kinetic Delving".

"Does this mortal pose a grave threat?" he asked.

"It's unclear. However, he should be under cautious observation now that he has accessed both Cae and Barbon's abilities. He is capable of using destruction energy and a Kai's teleportation technique. He could be anywhere by now."

"Oh dear," Awamo said and sighed. He opened the book and flipped through to the more recent entries that were automatically logged in and a projection of the mortal in question appeared above the book.

"Is this him?" Awamo asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Strange that he's a Gardenian. Did Lord Barbon not destroy that planet?" he asked and Marcarita frowned.

"He did. However, this mortal must not have been on the planet when it was destroyed. He was a prisoner who had escaped several months ago and had been eluding the Pride Troopers for some time," Marcarita said and Awamo closed the book.

"Should we inform father about this?" Awamo asked and Marcarita shook her head.

"I cannot ascertain whether this mortal's intentions are nefarious or not, however," Marcarita stated as the two walked back to the grand table.

"However?" he asked.

"He has vowed revenge on Lord Barbon for the destruction of Gardenia and for his actions which led to his imprisonment. While he did acquire Barbon and Cae's abilities and knowledge, he lacked control and unintentionally destroyed what was around him. I would not suggest malicious intent behind it, merely an unfortunate circumstance," she said. She was aware of Barbon's disdain for evildoers based on his former position as leader of the Pride Troopers but she needed to look into the incident herself to gain more information.

"A mortal vowing revenge against a Destroyer for the destruction of their planet. We've seen this happen frequently throughout our history that we often consider this nothing more than an isolated incident. However, due to the fact that this mortal vowing revenge has been trained to use Kinetic Delving and has already acquired the abilities of the gods, what is it you suggest be done about this one?" Awamo asked, placing the book back on its shelf. Marcarita sat back down on her chair and took a pastry from the tray, biting into it. She grinned at the taste.

"Delicious…oh right. We should communicate to the other universes and keep an eye out for him should he make his presence known to us. It's too early to gauge whether revenge is his only motive. He will be severely untrained in use of the gods' abilities and the damage of acquiring so much knowledge and power at once could damage his mortal psyche. He might end up destroying himself if that's the case."

"Understood. I will research this more thoroughly once Anat and Iwen return. For now, you should return to your universe and let events happen normally. I wouldn't want a universe-wide panic occurring so suddenly," Awamo said and she nodded. She stood up and bowed at him.  
"It was a pleasure to see you again, brother," she said with a smile on her face and Awamo chuckled a bit.

"Always good to see my siblings now and then. Oh, before I forget, Lord Iwen has been curious about Goku again. He's eager to see whether he has developed his Ultra Instinct technique," Awamo said and Marcarita tried to force a smile.

"Lord Iwen and the other Destroyers have grown fond of Goku after the Tournament of Power, yet Barbon never speaks about him. He probably still holds some reservation about Goku's nature but I've never seen him speak openly about it."

"It has been quite some time since then," Awamo said and she nodded.

"In any case, I can relay the message to Whis when I see him next," she said and began walking back out.

"Come back with Lord Barbon on your next visit, sister. I'd love for him to sample a new brew I've been concocting," Awamo said and she smiled.

"We'll see," she said and left the building.

 **Back at the Tournament…**

Uub stepped back as Bok watched him. He took up a fighting stance once more and focused his mind.

"Nothing you do will make me move, Uub. Your best option now would be to give up," Bok said and Uub frowned.

"I won't give up. Every technique has a weakness and I aim to find it," Uub said and cautiously approached him.

"I doubt it. But you are welcomed to try."

Uub flew forward and went for another punch but it was like hitting a solid indestructible wall. He went for a knee to Bok's chest but there was very little impact to it. Uub started putting more power into his punches but they too weren't making even the slightest dent. Bok was not budging from any of Uub's blows and Uub grew more visibly frustrated at his lack of progress.

Murmurs began to be heard among the crowd as Goku and Vegeta took notice. "What's going on?" "He can't hit him." "What's with this kid?"

"Seems this 'perfect defense' Broly mentioned wasn't merely a baseless statement. I'm starting to suspect that Uub can't make him move, no matter how much force he puts behind his attacks," Vegeta said and Goku nodded, sighing.

"Uub won't give up though. There has to be a flaw in this technique," Goku said.

"There isn't," Broly stated, looking ahead. Goku's eyes widened a bit.

"Are you sure about that?" Goku asked and Broly nodded. Goku turned back to the match.

"Don't worry, Uub! You'll find a strategy; I know you will!" Goku shouted and Uub nodded. _Master is right, I will find a strategy. But for now, I gotta turn it up a notch to see how resistant this technique really is._

Uub clenched his fists and stood tall. His face intensified as he began powering up even more, the ripples of his white aura flaring out even more as he belted out a yell. The whole area began shaking as his power erupted from him and everyone was covering their faces and each other, protecting themselves from the strong winds. Shards of broken stage flew outward and were dusted as Gohan had to shield Videl and Broly hugged Cheelai and Arugula close to him. Bulma had to stay close to Vegeta to keep herself from being blown away and Goku had a grin on his face.

"He'll put a lot of these people in danger with his power," Vegeta said and Goku shook his head.

"He won't endanger anyone, he's trained enough to prevent that," he said and Vegeta scoffed at him.

Kelerot's grin widened as he watched Uub power up. _This kid's pretty good._

Piccolo was even more surprised at Uub's power. _He's managed to raise his power higher than when he used to be Majin Buu!_

When Uub finished raising his power, he burst forward and readied a punch. "Let's see how good your defense is against this!"

Bok narrowed his eyes and stared at the punch as it was coming towards him. When Uub connected, the blow sent powerful ripples that shook the earth again and several people fell forward, some landing outside of the stands and onto the ground below. Large cracks appeared around behind Bok as part of the roof of the building behind him blew completely off, some of the stage also collapsing and blown away.

Uub's eyes widened in shock as the impact still did nothing and Bok stared up at him. They locked eyes for a moment and Bok built up power in his fist and he grabbed Uub's arm with his other hand. Uub, distracted by the shock of how ineffective the punch was, didn't realize what was about to happen until it was too late. Bok's powered up fist went for an uppercut that connected with Uub's gut and he cried out in pain, gasping. Uub landed on his feet and staggered back, his legs wobbling. Goku stood up and stared in surprise as Uub hobbled back a few steps. The crowds eventually got back into their own seats as the announcer checked to see that things had returned to normal but saw that Uub's face contorted in pain, holding his stomach.

"It looks like contestant Bok delivered a devastating blow to Uub's gut!" he yelled and Pan looked like she was about to run out and help him but Bulla shook her head.

"Please don't get knocked out," Pan said, hands to her chest, feeling her heart pounding. Her face was filled with worry as she stared at Uub and Bulla winced a bit from watching the impact.

"That punch looked like it really hurt," she said and she could tell the growing concern on Pan's face.

Uub fell to his knees, coughing as Bok stared down at him.

"It's still not too late to give up, Uub," Bok said and Uub glared at him.

"Dammit, that was a huge mistake on my part," Uub muttered to himself and he clenched his fist.

"His power spiked down considerably from that blow alone," Vegeta said, frowning. Goku had a grave look of concern on his face. _Come on Uub, get back up._

Uub's legs wobbled as he went to one knee, then back on his feet and he was still visibly shaken from the impact. He took a few shaky steps back, breathing heavily and he kept staring at Bok, who patiently waited for his next move. Uub cupped his hands together in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Bok asked.

"Whatever it takes," Uub said through his breaths and brought his hands to his side, looking more intense as he stared at him.

"KA….ME…." he began and Goku's eyes widened a bit. Vegeta raised his eyebrows as well.

"Is the Kamehameha actually going to work on him?" Vegeta asked calmly and Goku looked at Uub with a serious expression. _I hope you know what you're doing, Uub._

"HA…." Uub continued, the blue-white energy building up within his cupped hands and his power rising again. More debris floated up to the air as the ground shook again and Bok narrowed his gaze at Uub.

"Your energy attacks will be pointless," Bok said and Uub ignored him.

"ME…" _I'll push that defense as hard as I can._

Bok tightened his fists. He stared at the mass of blue-white energy that Uub was about to fire at him and he took a deep breath.

"HA~!" Uub screamed and he fired the Kamehameha energy wave at Bok. It flew hot and fast, taking only a micro-second before it collided against Bok's wall-like body. The collision created an explosion of energy that cascaded outward. Uub pushed the beam against Bok, but it still wouldn't push him back. Bok stared at Uub, who grunted as he kept firing the beam and the stage was shaking immensely. Larger chunks of debris flew up and outward, the area around Bok widened from the impact crater, yet the part of the stage that he was standing on was still intact.

"Come on," Uub grunted as he put more power into the beam yet Bok still stood his ground. Goku and Vegeta were both stunned and couldn't bring themselves to say anything, looking on in disbelief. Broly started grinning, feeling more confident in at how well his son's technique has been working so far.

The crowd was amazed as well at how Bok was withstanding Uub's offense, amazed at the fact that nothing Uub had done so far even began to scratch the surface, and some were fairly concerned about Uub after he took that hard punch to the gut from Bok.

"You all know this technique, ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer shouted as he was taking cover behind part of the stage that had broken off. "Contestant Uub unleashing a Kamehameha attack and so far it's still not doing anything to move contestant Bok!"

Sweat beads were trickling down Uub's face as he continued firing, but the damage he suffered from Bok's punch is starting to take its toll on him and he began to struggle maintaining the beam. He winced from a moment of pain that shot through his mid-section and he let go of the beam's energy, falling to one knee. He clutched his stomach and closed his eyes, grunting through his teeth.

"Oh my goodness! Contestant Uub is unable to maintain his attack. Is he about to concede the match against contestant Bok?" the announcer said and Uub looked up at Bok. _I'm not giving up; I can't give up._

"Uub took a considerable amount of damage from that one punch," Vegeta said and Goku had a look of concern on his face.

"Alright Bok! You've almost got this in the bag!" Cheelai cried out and Goku closed his eyes. _I know you won't give up, Uub. There has to be a flaw to this technique!_

Uub's legs were wobbling again as he stood up, breathing heavily. He took a step forward and winced, holding his stomach. Bok took this moment to begin walking forward, charging up power in his right fist.

"This next punch should knock you out cold," Bok said and Uub glared at him.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Uub yelled and he took to the air to fly at Bok. Bok stopped and stood still once more and Uub landed a punch that once again did little to no effect on him. Vegeta raised an eyebrow for a moment.

"Kakarrot, look," Vegeta told him and Goku looked more closely. Bok began walking towards Uub again but stopped as Uub was about to go on the offensive again, each punch hitting Bok but not doing any damage whatsoever. Goku's eyes widened as he saw this.

"I see now," Goku said. "The only way Bok can maintain his perfect defense is if he stays motionless while his opponent is attacking him. He can then capitalize on an opening from his opponent to attack with a powerful blow."

Broly frowned as the other two Saiyans discussed the potential downside to Bok's ability and Goku glanced to see Uub putting two fingers to his forehead. _Good Uub, start thinking strategically._

Uub disappeared and Bok's eyes widened a bit. When Uub reappeared behind Bok, Bok glanced quickly behind him and took a punch to the back, but he stayed still as Uub hit him, causing no damage or movement. Uub teleported to a different blind spot and started attacking again, but Bok's statue-like body refused to budge from the impact. Uub attempted to attack Bok's blind spots to draw his attention and cause him to make a mistake and after several attempts, he flew back to gain some distance and winced a bit again from the pain in his mid-section. _I can't even hit his blind spot._

"Come on, Uub, figure it out," Goku whispered and Vegeta stared on ahead. Videl had her hands clasped together, praying that Uub would somehow come out on top and Gohan shared a look with Goku, as he too had figured out the window of opportunity for Uub.

Broly breathed a mild sigh of relief as he saw Uub's fatigue getting to him. Cheelai beamed proudly with a huge smile on her face and Arugula was cheering on her brother as well. Lemo looked a bit bored, glancing around the stands. He had been used to seeing Bok fight so many times back on Bloss and felt that this was going to end up the same way.

"Uub's power is decreasing at an accelerated rate," New 16 piped in after watching quietly for a while. "I estimate three minutes and thirty five seconds before his energy runs out completely and he passes out."

"You might be right on that one," Bulma said, sighing out of concern for Uub.

The announcer rushed over to behind Uub. "Hey Uub, it's not too late to concede if you feel you're unable to continue."

Uub glanced down behind him. "It's okay, I can still fight. I'll figure a way through this."

Uub stared down at the stage, trying to get his breathing under control. _Think Uub, what have you noticed so far?_

He remembered briefly about the times he went on the attack and noticed that Bok kept stopping each time to stand still. Uub figured that Bok can only use his defense when he's not moving, and each time Uub tried to attack, he was only hitting the part of Bok that wasn't moving and he stared up at him, one arm holding his stomach.

Uub began to walk over to Bok. Bok raised his eyebrows for a moment, wondering what Uub was up to. He built up energy in his fist once more, ready for when Uub went on the offensive. Uub could see the glowing energy around Bok's fist and he grinned.

"As long as I don't get knocked out, I might have a chance," Uub said and he was getting very close to within striking range of Bok.

"Whatever you've got planned, don't count on it working out for you," Bok said and Uub shook his head.

"Don't put too much confidence in your defense, Bok," Uub said and he went for a punch but flickered his fist at the last moment. Bok was waiting for the punch but Uub had moved it at the last second. _A feint?!_

Uub redirected his fist that managed to graze Bok's face, forcing him to move his head slightly to avoid the impact and his eyes widened. Uub grinned at him and took up a fighting stance.

Broly raised his eyebrows and Cheelai was stunned at her son actually getting scratched from the attack.

"That's not possible," she said and Broly frowned.

"Bok has to have complete concentration in order to maintain his perfect defense, but slight moments like a feint or a distraction can cause him to lose his concentration and leave him vulnerable to an attack," Goku said, a grin finally forming on his face.

"Uub doesn't have enough power to finish the job though since he discovered the weakness so late in the match," Vegeta stated and Goku clenched his fists, frowning. _You've almost got this, Uub._

Uub continued with his strategy, feinting his movements. He got Bok to start blocking his punches and kicks, and Bok narrowly hit Uub with a hard energy-charged punch that would've knocked him out for sure. Uub redirected the fist and went for another feint, this time actually connecting with Bok's face which caused him to step back for a moment, touching the area that Uub had hit. Bok shook his head and felt the blow on his face, grinning a bit.

"You're draining a lot of your stamina doing that, you know," Bok said and Uub was breathing hard again. _If I hadn't taken that hit earlier, my stamina wouldn't be an issue at this point._

Uub stared at Bok and started thinking back to his training with Goku. There were often times Goku taught him how to employ distractions and feints, and one day he used a technique that Uub hadn't seen before. He saw Goku put two hands to his eyes, fingers apart and he shouted something. Immediately afterwards the area grew so bright that Uub was slightly blinded by the intense glare of what looked like amplified sunlight and next thing he knew he took a huge blow from Goku that knocked him out.

His eyes widened a bit. _That's it!_

He took to the air and flew out where the sunlight was beaming down on the stage. _Goku flew to this spot to be in front of the sun. I couldn't make him out, only some silhouette of him since it was really bright outside. How did that technique go again? Right, like this._

Uub brought his hands up to his face, spreading out his fingers and Goku's face looked on, surprised.

"Guys! Close your eyes, quick!" he shouted and Vegeta noticed that Uub was preparing to use the Solar Flare technique. Broly's family looked at them confused, but Bulma and 16 closed their eyes, as well as Gohan and Videl.

"What's with that pose?" Bok asked, looking up at Uub as he was blocking out part of the sun.

"Please let this work," Uub said, breathing heavily. Goku covered his eyes and face.

"SOLAR FLARE!" Uub shouted and a burst of intense light shot out from around Uub. The area was bathed in a grand luminescence that caused the crowd to react, crying out from the brief pain of the glare. The announcer noticed what was going on, yet the sunglasses he had on his face protected him from the technique.

Bok, the unfortunate victim of this technique, cried out as he covered his face. "Agh! Dammit!"

Uub quickly darted back down from his position and readied a fist as Bok held his face, unable to see anything. Bulla and Pan shielded themselves behind the sign as the light continued to illuminate furiously and Uub built up speed, flying directly at Bok.

This time, Uub connected with a hard left that sent Bok flying all the way back to the far wall of the stands, crashing into it before he fell on the ground and Uub lost his momentum, crashing onto the stage. He winced at the impact but had a grin as he looked up to see Bok on the ground outside of the stage. _I did it!_

When the light finally faded and vision returned to normal, the announcer quickly ran to the other side of the grassy area where Bok had landed and he saw that he had been knocked out of the ring from Uub's punch.

"Contestant Bok has landed outside! The winner of this match via ringout is Contestant Uub!" the announcer yelled and the crowd erupted into cheers for Uub. Uub stood up, albeit still weak in the knees and had a small grin on his face, raising his fist in victory. He looked over at Goku and he returned his smile with an even wider grin.

"Great job, Uub!" he cried out and Vegeta had a small grin on his face as well. Broly and Cheelai stared on in disbelief, unsure what just happened.

"What the hell was that?!" Cheelai yelled, standing up and almost knocking Arugula off her lap yet she still held her in her arms. She felt compelled to rush the stage but Broly had a firm grasp of her arm. She glared at him and tried to pull away but he shook his head.

"Uub won his match, let it go," he said and Cheelai sighed, sitting back down.

"Mama, what happened to big brother?" Arugula asked.

"I don't know, what did happen to Bok?" Cheelai asked, glaring at Goku who looked a bit intimidated by her gaze.

"The Solar Flare technique. It's a simple technique used to blind your opponent by creating an intense light with the help of the sun's energy. Uub figured that was the best way to distract Bok enough to make him drop his defense completely and hit him with a finishing blow."

"Sounds an awful lot like cheating to me," Cheelai said, sitting back down. She let go of Arugula and she sat down in between Lemo and her mother and she wasn't sure why Cheelai looked so upset with her arms crossed, glaring at the stage.

"Uub's come a long way since we last saw him, dad," Gohan said, adjusting his glasses. Videl breathed a sigh of relief, smiling.

"I thought for sure he was going to lose that fight," she said and Goku nodded.

"If Uub hadn't caught on to the way Bok was using his technique, he would've lost."

"Uub's energy is still decreasing, he will lose consciousness momentarily," 16 stated as he continued staring at the stage. Quite a portion of it had been blown away and Uub hopped down to approach Bok.

Bok grunted as he sat up, opening his eyes. He looked around and saw that he was on the ground. He took a moment to get his bearings together and frowned when he realized what had happened. He began to smile as he looked up at Uub.

"I never expected such a technique to exist," he said and Uub had a weak smile. He took another step forward and fell forward. Uub had passed out and Bok quickly held him up, putting his arm around his shoulder.

"Easy there, I got you," he said and he helped Uub back to the waiting area.

Bulla turned to Pan. "Get the senzu beans ready," she said and Pan nodded, pulling out the bag she stashed under her gi. Uub gave it to her for safekeeping and she took out two beans from the bag. When Bok brought Uub back behind the sign, she handed one of the beans to him.

"What's this?" Bok asked.

"It's a senzu bean, they heal injuries no matter how severe," she said. She only knew so much about the properties of the beans from what Goku and Gohan had told her and knew how well they worked when she had a grave injury that was healed with one bean a few years ago. Bok looked at the bean for a moment.

"You're supposed to eat it," she said and he put it in his mouth. After he crunched it down and swallowed it, he felt his energy come back and the bruise that had formed on his face faded away. His eyes widened as he stared at Pan, then at the other bean in her hand.

"Woah! I got to get uncle Lemo to grow a batch of these back on Bloss!" he exclaimed and he set Uub down on the floor against the wall. Pan knelt down and touched Uub's face with her hand.

"Uub? It's me, wake up," she spoke softly and waited for Uub to open his eyes again. She sighed and put the other bean into his mouth, hoping that he could still reflexively eat it while he was out. His mouth began to move on its own and he did break the bean down, swallowing it. He jolted awake and his eyes widened after a few seconds and he hopped back up to his feet.

"What happened? How long was I out?" he asked.

"Only a couple minutes," Pan told him, standing up as well. Uub smiled and turned to Bok.

"Great match, Uub. I hope you do well in the next round. You've got an amazing fighting sense about you," Bok said and Uub chuckled a bit, flashing a victory sign. Bok responded with his mother's signature OK sign and the two both shared a hearty laugh.

Up in the stands, Kelerot had his arms crossed. He could see that Piccolo glanced at him a couple of times and he walked over to him.

"An impressive display of combat, wouldn't you say?" Kelerot asked. He put his hands behind his back and Piccolo glanced at his posture. He frowned a bit more.

"He takes after Goku in terms of his fighting style, much like how Goku was when I first fought him years ago," Piccolo said and Kelerot eyed the Namekian up and down.

"I see. This must've been his first real taste of competition though," Kelerot said.

"He's been in a tournament before many years ago," Piccolo responded and Kelerot raised an eyebrow. He could've easily have seen this for himself when he delved Goku but chose not to access his memories.

"He had that much power then?" Kelerot asked.

"He was able to keep up with Goku until he began flying. But since Uub didn't know how to fly yet, Goku ended the match abruptly and decided to train Uub on how to control his power and how to fight properly."

"His energy feels familiar in a way. It's almost like his energy is…divine," Kelerot said, hand to his chin. Piccolo raised an eyebrow a bit when he heard that come from Kelerot and his eyes narrowed once more. _How does he know how to sense divine energy? Can it be that he's got god-like power like Goku and Vegeta? Or is it more than that?_

"Tell me something," Piccolo asked, turning to face Kelerot.

"Of course," Kelerot said, smiling politely.

"Are you a God of Destruction?" Piccolo asked and Kelerot's face darkened for a split second. His smile almost faded but he kept looking up at Piccolo.

"No, I'm not," Kelerot said and turned around to walk away. Piccolo kept looking at him and turned his attention back down to Goku and Gohan. _I've grown accustomed to detecting divine energy now and I sensed the same energy that I normally have felt from Lord Beerus. What is this guy hiding from us?_

The announcer assessed the damaged caused to the stage and cleared his throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we will break for three hours to repair the stage. We will work as fast as we can and ensure everyone that the last two matches will still take place before day's end. Stay tuned, everyone!"

The crowd began to disperse and leave the stands for now, while Goku and his group stayed behind. Piccolo walked down to tap Goku on the shoulder.

"Goku, a word," he said, taking off to the air. Goku followed him and Vegeta decided to join in as well. When Piccolo gained some distance from the tournament grounds, the three stopped.

"What's up, Piccolo?" Goku asked.

"When you two were fighting Kelerot, was there something that felt off about his energy?" he asked.

"Hmm, not really. I can't think of anything that would be out of the ordinary," Goku said.

"His energy wasn't much like a Saiyan's, if that's what you're wondering," Vegeta said and Piccolo gave him a small nod.

"It was brief, but there was a sign of divine energy present as you were fighting him," Piccolo said and Goku blinked. He crossed his arms and thought it over, then it hit him as well.

"Yeah, I felt an odd mix of energy, but it was really sudden, like if you blinked you'd miss it or something. Most of the fight I couldn't sense anything while he was moving. This guy's got really good energy control."

"Like a God of Destruction," Vegeta said and Goku's eyes widened a bit.

"Really? You think Kelerot's a Destroyer?" he asked. Piccolo shook his head.

"No. I doubt he is, yet his power and posture resembles the gods which makes this quite confusing," Piccolo said and Vegeta glanced back for a moment.

"What should also be of concern is Broly. There was a moment earlier where Broly's power rose quickly due to his anger and I thought for a moment he would have lost control of his temper again. I've been training non-stop since then just in case that happened again. I hope you've done the same while training Uub, Kakarrot."

Goku sighed, looking away for a moment. "Sorry, I've been so busy with training Uub that I haven't had much time for myself."

"That's understandable," Piccolo said and the three looked back at the tournament grounds.

"I'm convinced Kelerot is hiding something from us. There's more to him than he's leading on," he said and Goku couldn't help but smile.

"I don't get the vibe that he's a bad guy, though. When Uub found him almost dead, I figured he must've been through a really bad time and doesn't want to talk about it."

"But how does someone who arrived here half-dead wield the power of a Destroyer? What kind of opponent did he fight? And how did he come across a Destroyer's power without the proper training?" Piccolo asked and Goku sighed a moment. The idea that it might have been Jiren crossed their minds at once and Vegeta paused for a moment while Piccolo froze. He didn't want to contemplate the notion that Kelerot was as strong as Jiren and dared not dwell more on it. Goku smirked, sensing the tension and he wanted to state how excited this was making him feel but Vegeta cut him off.

"It's best we don't ask too many questions," Vegeta said as he began to fly back. Goku pouted a moment before he and Piccolo followed him back.

"I'll get to know him a bit more while they're fixing the stage," Goku said after they landed and Vegeta gave him a look as he was walking towards him.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to challenge him to another fight or anything!" he said with a smile and Piccolo gave him a look as well.

"Just be on your guard, Goku," Piccolo told him and Goku approached Kelerot.

"Heya!" he said, waving at him. Kelerot gave him a nod.

"This tournament is entertaining, I'm enjoying this a lot," Kelerot said and Goku nodded.

"Yeah. I'm glad to see that Uub is finally able put his training to use," he said.

"You are his teacher?" Kelerot asked and Goku nodded.

"Yep! I've been training Uub for about five years I think? Could be six, it's been so long," Goku said, chuckling a bit.

"That would make sense. His style of fighting mirrored yours when we had our sparring session earlier," Kelerot said and stood with his hands behind his back. Goku had his hands behind his head.

"Your stance kinda reminds me of Lord Beerus, if you don't mind me sayin'" Goku said and Kelerot glanced at him a moment.

"I've heard that name before. He's a God of Destruction, right?" Kelerot asked.

"Yep!"

"I see. Is he strong?" Kelerot asked and Goku raised his eyebrows a bit.

"Yeah. He's really strong, the strongest guy in our universe. I think if Vegeta and I fought him now we'd probably beat him, but don't tell him I said that!" Goku said, laughing and Kelerot smiled.

"I wonder. If I fought him, would I win?" he asked and Goku glanced at him.

"Huh? Maybe, you seem pretty good and you definitely look strong," Goku said.

"Thank you. I've often wondered if it's possible to defeat a Destroyer God," Kelerot said and Goku crossed his arms, staring ahead.

"I thought about that at first to make sure he doesn't destroy our planet, but I think of him more as a good training partner. There's a lot of strong fighters out there I can train with and not lose my edge. If you stay here for a while I'd love to spend some quality training time with you and see about having a proper fight with you some day. Where did you say you came from? I forgot."

"The Eleventh Universe."

"Ah! Right! So you've got those Pride Trooper guys. Guys like Toppo, Dyspo, and Jiren. Those guys were all awesome fighters and I hope to fight them again someday after I've caught up with my own training!"

"Yeah…" Kelerot said, his smile disappearing. He stared down at the crew repairing the stage. Goku noticed Kelerot's tone shift and felt a bit embarrassed.

"Sorry, I tend to ramble on too long! Has something happen between you and the Pride Troopers?" Goku asked and Kelerot glanced at him but didn't say anything.

"You could say that," he said after a pause and Goku leaned forward on the railing.

"Something has been buggin' me, though. How did you get all the way here from your universe? Isn't that really far away? You were almost dead when we found you so this kinda doesn't make a whole lotta sense, you know?" Goku said and Kelerot stared at him.

"Your green-skinned friend sent you to talk to me, didn't he? He's been awfully nosy about me since I got here," Kelerot said, looking at him seriously. Goku waved his hands in front of him.

"Sorry! This was more my idea. I wanted to get to know you a bit more since you came here so suddenly from a different universe."

"Understandable," Kelerot said and looked back down at the crew. He sighed a bit.

"Excuse me for a moment," he said and flew down to the ground.

"Sir, the ground is off-limits to non-participants," one of the monks said and Kelerot motioned at him.

"Stand aside," he said and raised his hands. He channeled energy into his hands that glowed blue and the whole stage began to glow brightly. Everyone who was still around stopped to stare at the stage and at Kelerot. The crew that were working on the stage panicked and jumped off as the light grew brighter. They looked on in shock as the stage mended itself and the light eventually faded away. They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the stage good as new again and they all stared at Kelerot.

"You may continue your tournament now," Kelerot said and flew back to stand behind the railing. Goku looked at him, stunned.

"Wow, I didn't know you had that ability!" Goku said, excitement in his voice. Kelerot looked at his hands. _Neither did I, but that was the first thing that came to my head. Is this part of a Supreme Kai's abilities?_

Kelerot put his hands behind his back again and stared at the stage. The announcer came back after his lunch break and was shocked to see the stage look brand new.

"Wow, you guys work fast! It looks just like it did before!" he said.

"That wasn't us though. Some guy just dropped in and did a thing with a strange blue glow and the stage repaired itself," one of the monks told him and the announcer scratched his head.

"I guess the heavens really are watching us after all," he said and walked over onto the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies and gentlemen! The stage has been fully repaired and we will begin our third match shortly! I will give everyone enough time to return to their seats!" the announcer shouted and walked off the stage.

The group in the waiting room looked on in surprise as well and Pan, Bulla and Uub all looked at each other. Bok was equally surprised.

"Was that the guy from earlier who had dinner with all of us?" he asked and Pan nodded.

"Yeah. I didn't know he could do that."

"I don't think it's a hard technique to use though. I bet with enough concentration and energy anyone can do that," Bulla said. Pan frowned a bit.

"I don't know if anyone can do that, though. That looked pretty specific to me," she said.

"What makes you say that?" Bulla asked.

"When I was getting my potential unlocked by Mr. Shinkai, he had to stop to help Mr. Kibito repair a broken device and he used this blue energy to fix it. When I saw that guy fix the stage, it looked just like Mr. Shinkai's ability."

"Wait, are you saying that guy's a Supreme Kai?!" Uub exclaimed.

"Potential unlocked? Did you get someone to make you stronger?" Bulla asked instead, looking at Pan suspiciously.

"Yeah. Mr. Shinkai helped unlock my potential. Well, I kinda did it myself accidentally but he did help the rest of the way. It was the same with my dad back then from what he and grandpa told me."

"So that's what I felt months ago during my training. You energy spiked through the roof!" Bulla cried and Pan chuckled a bit.

"Yeah. I can't wait to show you my new power during our match," she said and Bulla smirked.

"I hope you do because I don't want you holding back. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. Let's blow the competition away with our match," Bulla said, motioning with her fist and Pan bumped her fist against hers. Uub glanced up and could see Kelerot and Goku standing together.

"I wonder if master Goku knows he's a Supreme Kai or not," Uub muttered and Pan frowned a bit.

"I don't think he's a Kai, Uub. He doesn't look anything like one and he doesn't even have the right outfit."

"Maybe you're right," Uub said and turned to face her. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Good luck in your match."

Pan nodded with a warm smile, then turned her attention to Bulla. The two girls both stared at each other with a determined smile and nodded, standing behind the sign waiting for the announcer.

Goku glanced at Kelerot once more. "I should head back to my seat. See ya!" he waved at him, running back down the steps. Piccolo stared at Kelerot cautiously, looking even more suspicious but Kelerot ignored him.

Once everyone had returned, the announcer climbed up to the stage and raised his microphone to the air.

"Despite a brief delay, we're ready for our third match of this World Tournament! Contestant Pan will be facing Contestant Bulla! Will both contestants please make their way to the fighting stage now?" he shouted and Pan and Bulla both nodded, walking out together to the roar of the crowd. Arugula looked excited to see Pan step out and waved her hands in the air, a huge smile on her face. Gohan and Videl were amazed at how Pan looked and they turned their attention to Goku.

"Dad, doesn't Pan look a bit, um, older?" Gohan asked.

"We spent most of the day in the chamber on the lookout," Goku said and Gohan glanced back to Pan.

"So we missed her birthday," Videl said, sighing.

"We can celebrate it after the quarterfinals are done," Gohan reassured her. Videl didn't seem too thrilled and stared down at Pan. She felt like Pan became a whole different person, even though she knew she could recognize that face and hair no matter what.

Pan and Bulla went up the steps to the stage and Pan could see the whole crowd as she looked around her. When she sensed Goku's energy, she focused her attention over to him and her face brightened when she saw Gohan and Videl and waved at them with her hands in the air. Bulla waved at Vegeta and Bulma as well as New 16 and Bulma stood up, waving back.

"Fight hard, Bulla!" Bulma shouted. Arugula pouted and stood up on her seat, puffing out her chest. She cupped her hands to her mouth.

"Pan-Pan! Sissy! Do your best!" Arugula shouted and both girls on the stage went red in the face, swooning at her. Pan flashed a victory sign at Arugula, who gave her the OK sign in return and Pan covered her face. _AGH, SHE'S SO ADORABLE!_

Getting their bearings together again, the girls stared at each other with a determined look.

"Contestant Pan was one of our youngest participants a couple tournaments back. She's shown us that no matter how large the opponent, she displayed a tremendous amount of strength for someone her age.

"Contestant Bulla should be familiar to everyone here, for she is the daughter of Capsule Corporation's biggest and brightest family on the planet! Since Pan is also the granddaughter of our former world champion, Hercule, that makes two very wealthy children ready to fight it out to see who will move on to claim the new championship title! Give it up for these two brave girls!"

The crowd roared with cheers split down the middle for both Pan and Bulla, with Arugula continuing to cheer loudly for the both of them while Bulma was in full support of her daughter.

"Good luck, Pan! We love you!" Videl shouted and Pan blushed a bit, smiling. _Thanks, mom._

The monks began pounding the drums again and the girls took up a fighting stance. Bulla's was very similar to Vegeta's, one arm slightly in front of her head with her other arm slightly stretched out behind her shoulder, fist clenched. Pan took up a stance that was like Piccolo's, both hands curled up almost into fists but not quite and she stood sideways with one foot in front of the other.

"She's really taken to Piccolo's fighting style," Gohan mentioned to Goku and he smiled.

"Yeah, Piccolo's been a great mentor to Pan, helping her develop her new power. I knew he was the best teacher for her since he helped train you so much."

"Bulla must really look up to Vegeta since she's picked up on his style of fighting," Gohan noted.

"That is mainly due to the training simulations I've downloaded into my memory core," new 16 informed them and Vegeta glanced at him for a moment but couldn't help but grin a bit. He had his arms crossed and waited patiently for the match to start.

Lemo glanced over at Cheelai and could see how excited Arugula was as she was busy jumping on her chair, smiling a lot as she looked at Pan.

"I've never seen her this excited before. I gotta give credit to Pan, she's really got a knack for bringing her out of her shell," he said and Cheelai couldn't help but smile as she glanced up at her daughter.

"Pan-Pan's gonna win! Come on, mama! Let's cheer for Pan-Pan!" Arugula cried out and Cheelai chuckled a bit.

"Sure thing, kiddo. You too, big guy," she said, nudging Broly and he scratched the back of his head. He's been so used to showing support for his own family that he's a little bit stunned for words.

"Just cheer for Pan like we would cheer for our own kids, dummy," she said, smirking up at him and Broly flashed an OK sign at her, grinning.

"We got your back, kid! Fight hard!" Cheelai shouted and she brought Arugula up to Broly so he could put her on his shoulders, something she loved doing which gave her an even better view of the stage. She could clearly see both Pan and Bulla standing, ready to begin their fight once the gong rang out. Lemo put two fingers to his mouth and blew a loud whistle, which forced Piccolo to wince in pain and cover his ears, closing his eyes. Vegeta's grin faded as he was forced to listen to Broly and his family cheer loudly for Pan and he looked visibly annoyed, staring at the stage. Bulma glared at both Broly's family and Goku's family who were all cheering for Pan and she stood up and took out a capsule from her front pocket and threw it up, producing a megaphone. She switched it on and stood up tall on her seat.

"COME ON BULLA! DON'T LET THE PRESSURE GET TO YOU! KICK HER BUTT!" she shouted through the megaphone and Bulla looked embarrassed, staring at her mother with a disgusted look on her face. _Aw geez, mom…_

When the gong sounded, the announcer shouted "Begin!" and both Pan and Bulla were quick on the move. They flickered around the stage, moving in high-speed bursts, disappearing and reappearing in mid-air. Their forearms collided against each other and sparks of energy shot out from the two, intense looks on their faces as one was trying to force the other one back. Bulla was the first, pushing Pan back, who moved in a high-speed burst to reappear behind Bulla and she almost caught her with a chop to the back of the head, which Bulla dodged. As she dodged, she flipped around to hit Pan with a kick, but that was blocked. The two girls blocked each other's blows as they threw several fists and kicks, descending back to the stage.

Bulla bounced back and fired multiple energy blasts that Pan dodged successively, deflecting the last one to fire one back at Bulla, who cancelled it out with her hands.

The crowd watched on in silence, amazed at how quick the two girls were moving around the stage. Neither seemed to have the advantage early on and both ended up connecting each other in the face with a fist, which sent them both flying back. Bulla made a few backflips before landing, but Pan was ready for her as she landed on her feet and propelled herself straight at her. Bulla ducked to avoid Pan's kick and she grabbed her by the ankle and spun her around. She launched her fast into the crowd, hoping for an early ring out but Pan stopped herself in mid-air, staring behind her. She was surprised to see she had almost touched the wall and slowly flew back to the stage.

"You've improved a lot, Pan!" Bulla said with a huge smile on her face and Pan blushed a bit.

"Thanks! You trained really hard as well from the looks of it," Pan replied and the two girls met in the middle of the stage.

"What an amazing opening to this match!" the announcer shouted. "Contestants Pan and Bulla may be friends outside but they've got quite the rivalry going on for them right here in front of you. How much longer will it take before they turn it up?"

Bulma looked at both girls with a surprised look on her face. "Holy crap, when did Bulla get that good? What kind of training did she do?" Vegeta had a smile on his face.

"Pan and Bulla are doing amazing, aren't they?" Goku said, leaning back on his seat. Gohan and Videl both had a satisfied look on their face.

"I can't wait to see what kind of training she did with Piccolo," Gohan said and Goku had a bit of a mischievous grin on his face, chuckling.

"You'll see."

"Hey Pan," Bulla said during their brief respite. "Did you finally get to transform into a Super Saiyan?"

"Oh, you mean this?" Pan said and she clenched her fists. She powered up and her hair flared up, changing color. When Bulla saw the familiar golden aura, she couldn't contain her excitement and transformed as well.

"YES! You finally pulled it off! I'm so excited!" Bulla squealed but Pan smirked. She changed back to her base form and Bulla blinked for a moment.

"Hey, why'd you stop?"

"Because I don't need to be a Super Saiyan now. Unlocking my potential gave me so much more depth to my power that transforming wasn't needed anymore. I still wanted to out of curiosity but my current power is far superior," Pan said, smiling. Bulla was still shocked.

"You're kidding me," she said. Pan shook her head.

"Nope, just you watch."

Pan's white aura flared around her and she kept her fists clenched. She tapped into the well of energy that was deep inside her and her aura cascaded an intense amount of energy that blew outward. Bulla looked back in shock as the winds blew her hair back wildly. Her mouth was hanging open as she stared at Pan, sensing that her power had skyrocketed. She scoffed and looked to the side, one hand on her hip.

"Pfft, big deal, so you've learned how to power up your base form. But how good is it against a Super Saiyan like me?" Bulla said, glancing back at her. Pan shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess we'll find out, won't we?" Pan said and took up a fighting stance. Bulla powered up and transformed, going back into her fighting stance again and the air around them felt more tense as the excitement in the crowd escalated.

Vegeta was a little surprised at Pan's power as his eyes widened a bit. "This feels a lot like Gohan's power."

Even Gohan couldn't hold back his shock. "Pan? Is that still my little girl?"

Goku crossed his arms, a big smile on his face. "Yep! She got your potential, too!"

"I knew it! That's amazing!" Gohan cried out and stood up.

"You're doing great, Pan! Mama and Papa are proud of you!" Gohan shouted and Pan's smile widened. _Thanks, dad._

"Whenever you're ready, Pan," Bulla said, and the two inched around the stage, circling each other. They were more cautious this time, wondering who would make the first move and they both suddenly decided to close in on each other at the same time. Their forearms connected with each other again and a loud boom was heard from the impact as they stared at each other. They then disappeared and went on a high-speed clash around the stage, going even faster with their blows that were being blocked. The more experienced fighters on the stage followed the action closely while the majority of the crowd looked around, trying to find the two girls.

"They vanished!"

"Where'd they go?"  
"Did you feel that explosion?"

The crowd was getting restless yet Goku's group was following the action intensely. Piccolo and Kelerot's eyes darted around, following the two girls as they reappeared above the stage and their knees connected with another explosion of energy that shook the area. Their hands clasped together in a test of strength as Pan tried to push back against Bulla.

Bulla couldn't hide her surprise as she felt Pan push back a lot harder than she had been used to. _She wasn't kidding about her power; I might have to get serious soon._

Bulla dodged a few lefts from Pan and went for a counter, which Pan caught in her hand. She grabbed her arm and swung her down to the stage, flying right behind her in pursuit. Bulla did a high-speed dodge at the last moment before Pan went for a forward punch, and ended up striking the stage, causing large cracks to appear from the impact. She smirked and blocked an attempt from Bulla as she reappeared behind her and Pan quickly backflipped to gain some distance.

She took up a fighting stance again and Bulla moved around a lot faster around the ring, flickering so quickly she created afterimages. Each time she appeared, she fired an energy blast at Pan, disappearing and reappearing to fire blast after blast at her and Pan deflected those away from her. Bulla upped her speed and it forced Pan to block, not giving her enough time to deflect each blast and she was caught in a pincer state, throwing up a defensive posture to block Bulla's energy blasts.

"She's so fast," Goku mentioned, astonished at Bulla's speed. Vegeta smirked as he realized how Bulla had improved her training. _Clever girl, good to know I kept those training programs._ He glanced over at New 16. _I can see why she had the android rebuilt to be a sparring partner_.

Pan began sensing Bulla's energy to pinpoint where she'd appear next and began channeling energy inside her, building up her aura. She sensed Bulla appearing near her blind spot to fire an energy blast and she used that split-second moment to disappear and reappear behind Bulla.

In a last ditch attempt, Bulla heightened up her energy to block as much of Pan's blow as she could, since she knew that she wouldn't be able to dodge in time. The impact sent her down to the stage but she flipped over a few times to land safely on her feet and she stared up at Pan with a smile on her face.

"I would've been disappointed if you weren't able to keep up, Pan," Bulla said and Pan landed back on the stage. Her face was beaming and she nodded happily.

"If this wasn't such a serious competition, I'd love to see what we could come up with together as we're fighting," Pan said, hands on her hips. Bulla cocked an eyebrow.

"Well you'd better start taking this seriously, Pan. I'm in this to win the prize money and build my own training facility so I can become stronger than even papa."

Pan had a bit of surprise in her face. "But doesn't your dad and grandpa have that godly energy thing going for them? We don't even know how to do that, Bulla. How would we be able to get stronger than them?"

"Psh, like I'd need some gods' power to get stronger. I'll get stronger my own way and beat my papa fairly," Bulla said, shrugging her shoulders.

"She really has taken after you, hasn't she?" Goku laughed. Vegeta scoffed at the notion but couldn't help but go red in the face from the amount of pride he felt in his daughter. Bulma sighed a bit, closing her eyes.

"Sometimes she takes a little too much after you," she said calmly, hand to the side of her face.

The two girls got into a fighting pose again and Arugula had her hands together, pleadingly.

"Pan-Pan, you can win this!" she said.

When Bulla and Pan resumed their fight, their speed was even more intense than before. They vanished and reappeared around the stage, blocking and trading blows as they fought on the stage floor, in the air, and almost near the edge where Bulla nearly fell out. She managed to throw Pan to the outside of the stage but Pan quickly disappeared before she landed and flew in a straight path towards Bulla.

Bulla was in a well-guarded fighting pose, waiting for Pan's attack, but Pan smirked and she began to glow brightly. Bulla's eyes widened a bit as Pan's energy fluctuated and her body and aura began to shake. Bulla didn't expect Pan's next move as she saw her split into two separate copies of herself and she had to block several shots from Pan as she was attacking from two fronts.

"Are my eyes deceiving me or am I seeing two Pans on the fighting stage?" the announcer cried. "I haven't seen a form like that since Tien fought Goku in the 22nd World Tournament!"

"Piccolo also knows how to use a split-form technique," Gohan stated. "It wouldn't surprise me if he taught Pan a few of his techniques."

"It's become one of her specialties. She's worked heavily on this throughout her training," Goku replied and Gohan raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? For real?"

Goku nodded.

Pan's doubles began their assault on Bulla, who had to move quickly to block each attempt. _Splitting herself should've dropped her energy a bit but I don't sense a drop at all._

Pan's face was still very much focused on Bulla as she continued her attack, moving in for a leg sweep, which tripped up Bulla slightly, while the other came in for a roundhouse. It connected, sending Bulla flying back, but she flipped around, and corrected herself before she reached the edge of the stage. One Pan quickly moved in and fired multiple energy blasts from her arms, forcing Bulla to move around quickly to deflect them while the other waited for an opening. Bulla focused for a moment on one of Pan's split forms while ignoring the other and she went all-out on punches and kicks which connected with Pan and she planted her feet in Pan's gut to launch herself to the air and she saw in the corner of her eye the other Pan moving in on her. She leaned back with her hands in a precarious position, one behind the other and she raised her knee slightly. Vegeta's eyes widened a bit at the familiar pose and Bulla's intense look on her face meant that she was going to fire a large attack at Pan.

Pan looked surprised for a moment seeing Bulla charge up a Galick Gun and Bulla fired it while she was still flying back, the whole process happening within seconds of when Bulla hit Pan to fly back.

Bulla used this moment to fly over to the first Pan while the Galick Gun was heading straight for the second one and she moved around quickly to make Pan disoriented as she moved in quickly for a few physical blows, which Pan was able to block. The second Pan caught the blast and sent it flying upward into the sky and Bulla moved in quickly to hit her in the back with a kick, flipping around to strike her down with a roundhouse. The first Pan caught the second one in the air and they both landed on the stage. Bulla flew straight at the two and the two Pans moved away from Bulla's impact, dodging subsequent energy blasts she fired rapidly at the two.

"I like your strategy of splitting into two but I can handle two of you just fine, Pan!" Bulla cried out as she went back into her fighting pose. The two Pans looked at each other and nodded, smirking at Bulla.

"Good to know," they said in unison. Bulla frowned, wondering what was going on.

The two Pans united as one again and she took a deep breath, staring at Bull with a smile on her face. She then closed her eyes and began charging up her aura again.

"Oh? What could this be? Contestant Pan is firing up her energy and looks to be unleashing a huge attack!" the announcer cried as Bulla stared intensely at Pan. _Whatever you've got Pan, bring it._

Pan clenched her fists and her whole body began to glow brightly. Goku's smile grew wider while Piccolo stared down, his expression unchanged. _So you've decided to go through with it after all._

The rest of Goku's group looked on quietly but Arugula couldn't hold back her excitement.

"Mama, Pan-Pan looks all glowy! Is she going to do a big attack?" she asked.

"I don't honestly know," Cheelai said and looked up at Broly.

"Hey big guy, do you know what's going on?" she asked.

"I don't. I can sense a tremendous amount of power growing from her, however," he said and Cheelai sighed.

"At least this doesn't feel as scary as when Freeza gets all uppity with his energy," she said, glancing over at Lemo. She nudged him again as he was busy looking elsewhere.

"Watch the fight, dummy," she said and Lemo crossed his arms.

When Pan reached the apex of her energy build-up, her body resembled a glowing white aura which split into several separate glowing auras. Bulla's eyes began to widen slowly as she saw the glowing auras solidify into multiple forms of Pan, well over a dozen. When she counted them all, they totalled sixteen. They floated in mid-air and looked down at Bulla.

"An advanced multiplying technique," Vegeta stated.

"But doesn't this technique have the downside of cutting your energy as you split into several forms?" Gohan asked and Goku smiled, nodding.

"Normally, yeah, but Pan worked on that flaw as she trained with Piccolo. She worked on strength through numbers and realized the problem with the technique; so she compensated for it by training while maintaining her split form until she could multiply even further and work out the energy deficiency."

Bulla stared up at Pan and crossed her arms. "Sixteen on one. I see how it is."

"I'm going to have to end this quickly, I'm afraid," one of the Pans stated. "There's a limitation to this technique so I can only maintain it for a short while. But with this many of us, we're sure to knock you down or out of the ring no problem."

Bulla lowered her arms to her side and clenched her fists. "You're going to wish it could've been a hundred of you instead."

One of the Pans laughed a bit. "You can't fight off all of us, Bulla!"

Bulla cried out in fury and her power exploded. The air thickened as the ground shook and the crowds were crying out in shock. Her aura flared wildly with sparks of energy shooting around her like electricity and her hair spiked up even more. Her muscle tone looked only slightly bigger but more defined as she stared at the Pans that floated above her. Vegeta smirked at the sight and stared at the stage. Goku couldn't hold back his excitement either and looked on with anticipation. Piccolo was a little surprised at Bulla's sudden jump in power when she transformed into her Super Saiyan 2 form and Broly's family were equally amazed. Arugula looked on in worry as she could see how intense Bulla's gaze was and hugged Cheelai a bit more.

The Pans could feel Bulla's power leap up considerably from before and huge grins appeared on all their faces.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 – "An icy family reunion! The creations of Freeza's older brother are unleashed."**

Sparks flew around Bulla's aura as she stared up at Pan's multiple copies of herself, sixteen in total. She assessed the area and where all the Pans might converge on her but she felt that Pan had covered all bases with her technique to prevent her from gaining the upper hand. All she could do was rely on her own strength, speed, and resilience to fend them off and keep them all from knocking her out of the ring or even knock her out period.

A grin formed on her lips as she stared at one of them and decided to focus on that one first. She floated up slowly then made a sudden fast movement, disappearing then reappearing in front of one of the Pans, readying a fist to connect. That Pan blocked it and three other ones converged on her location and Bulla fought them off with blocked shots, moving around the four of them to fly off towards two other ones that weren't too far behind the four she was fending off. The Pans were a little surprised at how fast Bulla was moving but kept up with her, flying around looking for an opening to strike. Since they were numerous, they tread the area carefully so as not to hit each other accidentally.

Two went to grab her legs and pulled her down, but she powered out of their grip and twisted herself around to slam the two Pans into each other and elbowed one in the gut as she was coming down to grab her from behind. Bulla flipped over another one coming in from her blind spot on the left and she kicked her down to the ring as she flipped over backwards. Two Pans appeared behind her and one managed to grab Bulla in a full-nelson while the other gave her a few rapid fire punches to her front. Bulla toughened herself up to resist the blows and felt that with Pan's power having been spread out the way it did, the blows didn't have as much impact as when she was whole. She felt she could endure this level of punishment and blocked another punch with her legs, bringing them up to wrap themselves around Pan's arm to trap it. She twisted herself again, moving out of the full-nelson and leg go of Pan's arm to fly to the air out of the way of the Pan behind her and she met up with three others who were still in the air waiting for a chance to move in.

The crowd watched in stunned silence at all sixteen Pans fighting Bulla. Gohan and Videl were watching with amazement at how fast the girls were moving. Goku was excited to see their fight elevated to this level while Piccolo was satisfied at how well Pan was doing with her technique. Vegeta and New 16 were both calm, but even Vegeta couldn't hide the grin on his face as he watched Bulla fight off multiple Pans at once. Bulma was shocked to see how strong her daughter looked and Broly's family were equally amazed.

"Pan-Pan! Keep it up!" Arugula cried, shouting up at the Pans in the air, waving her arms. Three of them who were on the fighting stage below charged up attacks and fired energy balls up at Bulla. She sensed the energy coming up and began moving around as the Pans continued firing multiple blasts up at her. She picked up speed and moved around in bursts, disappearing and reappearing around the air to avoid the attacks, but was met with a double kick from two Pans that connected hard in her gut and she winced at the impact.

 _Damn, I thought for sure that Pan's energy would split considerably when she multiplied herself. It doesn't even feel like each one's a sixteenth of her power, but an even greater number._

The impact sent Bulla flying backwards and into the oncoming path of another Pan ready to hit her from behind, but Bulla corrected her descent in time to swing around and fire an energy blast at the Pan waiting for her and retaliated against the three below with energy blasts of her own that connected with their blasts, exploding on contact. Bulla switched on to an offensive attack and went after each one individually, throwing punches and kicks at such a rapid pace that each Pan had difficulty keeping up and was being knocked back as a result. Bulla knocked each one down and flickered in and out as she moved down to the group of them that were knocked to the ring.

The Pans began charging up energy attacks again and they all started firing at Bulla, who moved quickly to deflect them all around her to the air and aiming them away from the crowds. Her gaze intensified as she was feeling the heat of hundreds of blasts each coming from all sixteen of them now, which forced her to increase her speed to deflect them. Some of the Pans flew up and began to surround her, firing continuously at her. Bulla shifted into a defensive position, blocking and absorbing the impact of each blast and grunting in frustration as she was being pelted relentlessly with thousands of energy blasts.

"Contestant Bulla is enduring a vicious onslaught from so many copies of contestant Pan!" the announcer shouted. "How long can Bulla endure this before it takes its toll on her?"

Bulla's eyes were shut tight as she felt each blast hit her. It wasn't quite as devastating as she initially thought, but the ongoing assault was starting to affect her and she gritted her teeth.

The Pans that were firing energy blasts didn't expect Bulla to throw her arms out and unleash an explosion from her aura to cancel the blasts, belting out a yell as she did. She extended one arm out, palm facing forward and Vegeta's eyebrows rose.

"Hey Vegeta, isn't that?-" Goku noted but Vegeta was still fixated on the fight to look at him.

"Yeah."

"You can't hit all of us, Bulla!" a group of four Pans shouted in unison. Bulla didn't respond, only began gathering energy around her hand as she took aim in an open area. She wasn't aiming at any of the Pans specifically, which made them react in confusion and they took up fighting stances to prepare themselves for what Bulla was about to do.

"One thing I learned from my dad is that there's always opportunities to improve an attack," Bulla said and she began smiling down at them. The Pans felt like smiling back at her.

"BIG BANG BONANZA!" Bulla shouted and began firing not one, but several large energy balls, each homing in on a different Pan below. This surprised Vegeta as he wasn't expecting Bulla to show an improved version of his old technique and even Goku couldn't believe his eyes. A look of worry began growing on Piccolo's face as he saw each blast cascade down on all the Pans below and they scattered, moving around.

Bulla closed her hand and the balls exploded near Pan as they made their way to avoid them, but the blast radius combined from all of them knocked them back. They all cried out from the force and quickly flew back towards each other to re-merge as one so they wouldn't take the full force of the explosion. The large energy pulsated from the explosion's radius and both Goku and Vegeta nodded to each other quickly to erect energy barriers to absorb the damage so the people wouldn't get hurt from such a large concentration of energy. The area shook violently and portions of the building fell to the ground near the waiting area. Uub shielded his face as well as Bok, while Buu was still busy eating away, scratching his head at the ongoing chaos outside. Trunks looked back, wide-eyed at how powerful his sister had become and how devastating her attack was. He had no idea how hard she had trained until he saw her firsthand and looked on in disbelief. Android 18 shielded her face from the damage as well and she felt a little shaken up from the battle. _Geez, what's with these kids?_

When the energy settled and the smoke cleared, Bulla landed back down on the ring and noticed that Pan was back to a single person again, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Were you expecting to knock me out with all those copies?" Bulla asked as she walked over to Pan.

"No, but I hoped it would wear you down at least," she replied with a smile on her face. She took up a fighting stance again and stared at Bulla. Bulla returned her smile and stood in a stance herself.

"Try to keep up," Bulla said and the two vanished. The crowd once again looked frantically around for the two but to the trained eyes of the adults, they saw how fast the two girls were moving around the ring. They reappeared briefly at random sections of the ring, maintaining a ground battle as they moved around, trading blows. Pan was forced to the edge of the ring by Bulla and bent herself backwards as Bulla went in for a roundhouse kick, narrowly avoiding her as her leg hovered above Pan. Pan was still bent backwards as Bulla spun around to drive the heel of her foot down on Pan, who brought up her arms in a cross-like pattern to catch the heel and Bulla was pushing down hard, while Pan maintained her awkward balance with her feet firmly planted on the ring. The girls had an intense look on their faces as they pushed against one another and they both vanished again. Bulla reappeared first and threw a punch into an incoming Pan, who blocked it in a split-second move, then retaliated with a punch of her own that was also blocked. Bulla moved out to gain some distance and began flickering around, moving at high-speed bursts around the ring, firing blasts at Pan. She moved around the ring as she was dodging and deflecting Bulla's energy blasts with one hand. She raised her other arm and placed two fingers against her forehead and began channelling energy at the tips and that shocked the families watching her.

"Wait, that's Piccolo's technique!" Goku gasped, his eyes widening. _When did she learn that?!_

Even Piccolo was left speechless. _Did she see me use that while sparring with Uub and Goku?_

They couldn't piece it together but Pan was hiding a huge smile on her face as she knew this was the moment to throw up a technique she trained herself to use in secret without any of them knowing about it. She kept moving back and forth around the ring, moving and blocking Bulla's attacks and was ready to fire her attack at her.

She pivoted to the left and made a b-line straight at Bulla, her energy having been gathered at the tips of her fingers. Bulla could clearly see the energy that was focused in Pan's fingers and she gauged where Pan might move next and extended her hand out for another Big Bang attack.

Pan feinted to the left, then to the right, disappearing and reappearing to get within Bulla's blind spot, but she was anticipating each moment Pan moved in and was ready to fire.

Bulla fired just as Pan reappeared but she was a split second faster and disappeared again. The blast hit part of the ring and exploded, and Bulla's eyes widened.

Pan reappeared above Bulla and threw her arm forward.

"FIRE!" she cried and the Special Beam Cannon shot down fast and hot at Bulla from above, the thin beam of energy spiraling around like a drill came down fast. Bulla looked up in surprise at the attack and let out a scream of fury as she quickly reacted to hit the beam with the back of her hand to redirect it back up to the sky. This left an opening for Pan to reappear behind Bulla and fly forward with a heavy right hook that connected with her face. Bulla was sent down hard to the ring and she crashed through the tiles, sending pieces flying outward as she skidded along the ring. Pan landed near the center of the ring and her breathing was a little heavier as she smiled down at Bulla. The crowds roared in cheers at Pan.

"Contestant Bulla is down!" the announcer cried. He was about to administer the ten count when he saw Bulla stirring in the rubble and slowly get back to her feet. She winced as she held the side of her face and she stood up, her clothes dirty and slightly cut up. She had a few cuts on her face from the impact and felt a bruise forming where Pan's punch had landed and she massaged her jaw a bit.

Both girls where showing signs that their fight was wearing them out. They were breathing heavily as Pan and Bulla stared intensely at each other. Bulla was still a bit shaken up from the impact but steadied herself to regroup and regain her sense of balance.

Bulla had trouble making a face but she kept her composure as she stared at Pan. _So this is the power she had unlocked. To think that she'd match up with Super Saiyan 2 is mind-boggling. I have to end this quickly._

"You're a heck of a lot more resilient than I thought," Pan said, smiling. Bulla forced a smile through the pain on the side of her face and brought her hand forward. She motioned to Pan to come at her and Pan nodded, moving in a high speed burst to disappear out of her line of vision. When Pan reappeared, Bulla managed to block an oncoming right and the two scuffled on the floor of the ring back and forth, their faces growing more focused and intense as their fight pressed on. The crowds were heavily invested in it and cheered loudly for the both of them, drowning out the girls' families and Broly's family as well. Arugula tried to make herself heard but the noise was absorbed into the crowd and she looked down, a little dejected that her voice can't reach Pan's ears. She waved her hands in the air, hoping to get Pan's attention but Pan was too focused on blocking Bulla's quick jabs that all she could do was watch and cheer her on.

Pan gained some distance from Bulla and fired a few energy blasts as she flew back. Bulla moved and swerved from side to side to avoid them and she fired back with a multiple barrage of energy blasts of her own to counter Pan's and the two energy balls collided and exploded against one another. Pan ascended quickly to the air and Bulla made quick work to join her in mid-air and their fight continued as the two ascended higher and higher in the air, trading blows and blocking each other's shots while the crowd's heads followed them upward.

Bulla felt that Pan's energy was getting larger and stronger as she pressed on, feeling the intensity of her aura. She knew Pan was eager to finish this fight and Bulla matched the intensity level of her aura with her own, the sparks around her body crackling and pulsating outward even more. Their fists connected against each other and the shockwave sent the two of them flying back. They both stopped themselves and Pan clenched her fists, belting out a yell as she drew in more energy to heighten her aura and ready herself for a final attack. Bulla did the same and their energies collided against one another from their aura alone, shaking the earth below. Debris from the ring flew up and outward, the shards of broken concrete shattered into dust clouds from the intensity of the energy output alone.

When they reached the apex of their power up, they flew straight at each other, readying a fist that they hoped would connect faster than the other. Goku's and Vegeta's families watched and waited with bated breath at the outcome of what looked to be one last explosive exchange between the girls that would determine whether one had the strength to knock the other one out.

Their fists collided with each other's faces and another huge explosion of light and energy sent a thunderous shockwave down towards the crowd and they screamed in surprise. They were rocked in their seats as they had to avert their eyes to make sure they didn't lose their balance, but those that were still paying attention to the fight above them saw that the girls had simultaneously knocked each other out and were heading down fast to the edge of the ring below.

The speed at which they were going was propelled by the momentum they had earlier when they went for their blows. When they hit the edge of the stage, it caused another explosion of dust and debris that obscured them from view and the crowd was left in stunned silence, wondering what the outcome of this was going to be.

Seconds felt like minutes to them as the clouds of smoke thinned out and they could eventually see the silhouettes of the two girls come into view.

Gohan and Goku gasped. Videl and Bulma looked on, heavily concerned with their hands to their faces, almost averting their gaze at what happened. Uub and Bok were left wondering what was going on since both Pan and Bulla landed by the opposite edge of the stage. All Uub could detect was that their energy had depleted considerably and could only wonder what the announcer would say.

After the dust and smoke finally cleared, all eyes were on the both of them. Pan hung over the edge of the broken ring with her legs still on while her upper half draped itself over. Bulla unfortunately was on the outside grassy area. Both were unconscious but still breathing and the announcer rushed to assess the situation.

"C-contestant Bulla has landed outside of the ring! Your winner by ringout is Contestant Pan!"

The crowd burst into cheers again and both Gohan and Videl breathed sighs of relief, holding each other's hands. Goku eased back into his seat but glanced over at Bulma and Vegeta. Vegeta and New 16 looked unphased but he could tell the defeated look on Bulma's face as she sighed, giving him a weak smile in the process. Arugula beamed with a huge smile on her face as she cheered with her mother, while Broly had a satisfied look on his face. Even Piccolo couldn't help but smile too as he felt a sense of pride in Pan. He glanced over at Kelerot, wondering what he thought of this and could see a grin on his face. He noticed that it was a similar grin to the kind Goku has when he watched a good fight or was anticipating one. He ignored him for now and glanced back down at the ring. _You did well, kid._

Pan was the first to regain consciousness and she groggily looked around her. She was shocked at first, thinking that she had landed outside of the ring, but saw her legs were still on the ring and searched for Bulla. When she saw her lying on the ground nearby, she brought herself up to a seated position along the edge and a grin formed on her face. _I won; I think?_

She felt her hand grabbed by the announcer and she glanced up to see him raise it in the air, declaring her the winner and she took a few seconds to process that in. Her face lit up a bit and she hopped off the ring and waved at the crowd, walking over to Bulla. Her hair had gone back to her usual turquoise colour and Pan knelt down to help her up. Bulla finally opened her eyes and groaned as she was a little wobbly. Pan had to hold her steady to make sure she didn't fall back down and she looked her in the eye.

"Hey Pan," Bulla said, grinning.

"Hey Bulla," Pan said.

"Is our fight over?" Bulla asked and Pan nodded.

"I landed out of the ring, didn't I?" Bulla stated and Pan couldn't look at her. Bulla still chuckled a bit and felt strength coming back into her legs, taking her arm off Pan's shoulders.

"We've come a long way, haven't we?" Pan asked as they both began walking back to the waiting area.

"Yeah. I never had a good fight before and I was so amazed by what you did there," Bulla said and Pan giggled a bit.

"We both have great teachers, don't we?" she said and Bulla smiled, looking up at her parents. She and Vegeta stared at each other for a moment and she waved at her father with a two-fingered salute. Vegeta returned the gesture with a smile on his face. She could feel her father's pride in her as a fighter and she blushed, turning around to catch up with Pan.

When they both walked out of view of the crowd, Uub greeted them, handing each one a Senzu bean.

"Pan! I can't believe how good you were in that fight! Uh, you too Bulla!" Uub said, blushing.

"It's alright, you can gush about Pan all you want, I don't mind," Bulla said, eating her bean. She felt the pain wash away seconds later and breathed a sigh of relief. Pan did the same and a huge smile appeared on her face.

"You were so cool, Bulla! I can't believe those attacks you were using!" Pan cried out and Bulla got excited too.

"But not as cool as seeing sixteen of you all around the ring! I had to put in a lot of effort to keep up with all of you!" Bulla cried out as well and Pan rubbed the back of her head, blushing.

"I trained really hard on that one. I'm able to cut the energy deficiency to a fourth of my power when I multiply myself that much. I call it my Multi-Pan technique."

Bulla chuckled. "I love that name!"

"So's Big Bang Bonanza!" Pan retorted and the two girls continued chatting away and gushing over each other's abilities while Uub blushed a bit watching Pan's beaming face. Trunks got in a few last stretches before he approached Uub and Bok.

"Guess I'm up next," he said, glancing at his sister.

"Good luck out there," Uub said, extending his hand for Trunks to shake. Trunks took it and the two exchanged a warm smile, but Bok cleared his throat to get Trunks's attention.

"I hope you're ready against my brother," he said and Trunks frowned.

"Yeah," he said calmly and walked over to the sign. Bok scanned the area and noticed that Choi still hadn't come out from the dressing room and he sighed, annoyed.

"Seriously? Wait here, I'll go get him," he said and began walking to the dressing area. But he had only taken a couple of steps when he saw Choi walk over to him with his hands behind his head.

"So what'd I miss? What match is it at now?" Choi asked.

"Yours, dummy. Get out there, you're next," Bok said, pointing out with his thumb. Choi blinked for a moment, then punched his open palm, smirking.

"Be right back in a couple minutes," he said, walking past Bok and Uub and he glanced once at Trunks, making a clicking sound and then looked ahead. Trunks frowned at the kid and crossed his arms, staring ahead.

The announcer assessed the damage to the ring and determined that the last match of the day could proceed as normal.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Our final match of the day pits contestant Trunks versus contestant Choi!" he shouted into the microphone and Choi walked out first. He had his hands on his hips, walking with a confident stride as he smiled the whole time. He looked down at the ground as he walked over to the steps, while Trunks was a few steps behind him, staring ahead. He had an uneasy feeling about Choi as he walked behind him, occasionally catching the kid turning his head to look back at him with a grin on his face. He felt a bit of queasiness creep up in his stomach but he ignored it as he climbed up the steps.

"Come on, Trunks," Bulma said, clasping her hands together. Vegeta frowned, his arms crossed.

"Tch, that damn brat," he said. Bulma sighed as she looked at Choi.

"I know, that kid of Broly's is giving me bad vibes," Bulma said.

"I wasn't talking about him," Vegeta muttered and Bulma's eyes widened a bit. She could sense that Trunks looked uncomfortable about something based on his facial expression and her hands clasped more tightly together.

"Yeah Choi! You got this in the bag!" Cheelai shouted and Broly glanced down at the two in the ring. He looked down at Vegeta, then at Goku. Goku could sense that something was wrong with Trunks and he looked at the ring, frowning.

"What's with Trunks? I've never seen him like this," Goku chimed in but Vegeta didn't say anything. Goku also had his arms crossed, but he puzzled over the way Trunks was conducting himself.

Trunks did get into a fighting stance, but Choi stopped walking, standing several feet in front of him. He had his eyes closed, but that lingering grin of his unnerved Trunks even more.

"Contestant Trunks is also a huge heir to the Capsule Corporation legacy, the son of Dr. Bulma. Contestant Choi has surprised many of us on how rapidly he blew through all the contestants in the preliminaries to secure his spot in the top eight. Now he'll have to face his first true test. Contestants, are you both ready?" he shouted and Choi crossed his arms, looking as though he was in his own zone. He didn't acknowledge Trunks in the slightest, keeping his eyes closed. Trunks swallowed but nodded the same. The pounding of the drums began to sound as the crowd waited in silence for this match to begin and Choi opened his eyes to stare at Trunks, his grin widening. Trunks looked a bit more frustrated at the way Choi was looking at him and a couple sweat beads trickled down on his face as he gritted his teeth a bit, fists clenched.

When the drumming reached his apex, the gong sounded.

"Begi-!" the announcer shouted and a split second later was shocked to see that Choi was already behind Trunks. Trunks's eyes widened and his hands opened, a look of pure shock on his face. Choi chuckled in his throat a bit and stood behind Trunks, waiting for a few seconds.

Vegeta couldn't believe what he had seen and Goku's eyes couldn't hide it either. _That kid is incredibly fast!_

Seconds later, Trunks fell forward face-first into the ring. The crowd couldn't believe what had just happened and the announcer rushed to the stage to check on Trunks, kneeling down. He looked him over and then up at Choi. He stood back up on his feet and cleared his throat, looking nervously at Choi.

"Um, contestant Trunks is unable to battle. Contestant Choi wins via knockout!" the announcer shouted and Choi calmly walked with his fist raised in the air, eyes closed with that same grin on his face while everyone else was unable to process it fully yet.

"Hey, what the hell just happened?" Bulma asked, glancing at Vegeta. Vegeta turned to Broly with a look but Broly didn't say anything. He glanced over at Goku.

"You saw it, didn't you?" he asked and Goku nodded, frowning.

"He's faster than I thought he was. I've never seen a kid move with that kind of speed before. Even if Trunks was completely focused, he wouldn't have been able to see Choi move until it was too late."

"Even so, that damn Trunks has been neglecting his training," Vegeta said, staring at Trunks's unconscious body and Bulma sighed, looking down with worry.

"Maybe he knew it wasn't going to turn out so well?" she said, hand to her chest.

"Well, I certainly hope Pan is more prepared than he was when she goes up against my Choi," Cheelai said, beaming at them with a coy look on her face. Gohan and Videl looked at each other and Videl had a pleading look in her eyes.

"Are you sure Pan will be fine against that kid?" she asked.

"She'll be fine, don't worry," Gohan said and Videl wasn't able to hide her worry all that much as she watched Choi walk to the back. The announcer had monks bring a stretcher to help Trunks to the back since he was still out cold and Goku frowned, staring at Choi.

"It was brief but I could see Choi move and hit several vital areas on Trunks as soon as the fight started. He's worked heavily on his speed and precision that I worry he might not exercise any restraint against Pan."

Goku looked up at Broly.

"My boys know the rules of the tournament. He won't hurt her," Broly said, but Goku could sense a bit of hesitation in his voice when he said that last part and glanced back at the ring.

When the monks walked past Bulla and Pan with Trunks on the stretcher, Bulla sighed annoyingly.

"Pft, what a pathetic excuse for a fighter," came Choi's voice behind the monks as they walked out of view back to the infirmary. Pan glared at him.

"Shut it, brat! I'm getting sick of you bad mouthing everyone around here!" she yelled and Bulla put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's fine, Pan."

"What? C'mon Bulla, you can't surely agree with him?" Pan said, looking disgusted.

"I hate to admit it but he's right. My brother's never been this out of focus before. He's been off of his training for a while that it was getting on my nerves. He's supposed to be stronger than I am yet he's letting that damn Mai get in his head so often!"

"Bulla…"

"Why the hell did he even bother coming here in the first place?" Bulla cried, glaring at the direction the monks went and Pan could feel a sense of sadness in Bulla's voice as she knew how much this affected her.

"Bulla, I-"

"Bah, forget him. You got through the first round and you're facing against Choi next. I know you'll be ready for this one," she said with a confident smile and Choi chuckled a bit. Bulla blushed a bit, glancing back at him.

"I certainly hope she will be. I don't want to come out of this tournament disappointed and wasting my time on this planet. Besides, it'll probably be my brother and I in the finals anyway!"

"Um, about that," Bok said, tapping Choi on the shoulder.

Choi looked back at him, saw the look on his face and he grew visibly angry.

"You lost? YOU LOST?! What the hell, Bok?!"

"Bok put up a good fight, he almost beat me," Uub piped in and Choi glared at him.  
"Shut your face, faux-hawk! No one beats my brother but me! Got it?" Choi said, walking up to him. Uub frowned and stared back at him and Bulla had to intervene, holding up her hands in front of Choi.

"Everyone, please! Let's not start anything here. You'll both be disqualified if you do," she said and Choi glared at Uub, eventually smiling at him.

"Your little girlie friend better know what she's getting herself into because I've got some anger to vent now," Choi said and stormed off.

"Choi! Wait!" Bulla said, running after him. "Um, excuse me for a moment," she said, turning around to quickly address the others before running after Choi.

Bok sighed, hand to his face to hide a bit of his embarrassment. Pan was visibly the most upset out of the three of them.

"OOH! I'm going to pound that brat into oblivion!" she yelled, clenching her fists and Uub was a bit taken aback at Pan's outburst.

"I'm really sorry, you two. Choi's a hothead but he does have good moments, believe me," Bok said, glancing back. Uub crossed his arms and stared off into the distance, but not before catching a glance at Buu, smiling contently at the floor. He swallowed, then looked back at Bok.

"It's fine," he muttered and turned around to walk out of the building to the outside where several people from the auditorium had gathered to wait for the contestants to show up. Choi had already brushed past them with Bulla in pursuit, and they both ignored them as they went by. Uub was greeted by a large crowd who cheered for him and cheered for Pan as they saw her walk up beside him.

"Wow, we've gotten popular all of a sudden," she said and Uub averted his gaze. He blushed shyly and wanted to get away from the crowd, trying to move through them.

"Excuse me! Pardon me! Sorry! Coming through! Sorry!" he shouted as he squeezed by. Pan had to quickly keep up and ignored the outstretched hands of the fans who were part of Hercule's and Buu's fanclubs which by extension included Pan as well.

"Uub, slow down! Wait for me!" she cried and eventually caught up to him.

"Master Goku? Master Goku! I'm over here!" Uub shouted, trying to spot Goku and his family from among the crowd dispersing from the stands. He sighed a bit and decided to take to the air to get a better view of where they were and Pan flew up to meet him.

"Do you see them anywhere?" she asked and Uub shook his head. He put two fingers to his forehead.

"It'll be easier if I do this," he said and Pan grabbed his hand quickly before he teleported and the two vanished, reappearing beside Goku in the stands. They hadn't left yet since they were waiting for everyone else to clear out and Goku's face lit up when he saw the two of them. Videl rushed to embrace Pan and squeezed her tight. She looked her over, checking her face.

"Are you okay? Were you hurt pretty bad?" Videl asked.

"Mom, I'm fine. We brought senzu beans with us before we arrived here so Bulla and I had one after our match," Pan said. Piccolo walked down the steps to greet them.

"I'm both amazed and concerned you decided to learn the Special Beam Cannon," he told her and Pan blushed a bit, looking away.

"I didn't want to bring it up. I kinda wanted to keep that a secret until I used it during the tournament," she said and Piccolo frowned a bit.

"That's not something one would use. That technique is meant to deal a fatal blow to your opponent due to the nature of the condensed energy and piercing capability. I'd advise against using it for the rest of the tournament."

Pan's eyes widened, but she nodded calmly.

"Y-yeah, sorry about that," she said, but Piccolo still did give her a warm smile.

"You did great, though. We're all proud of you." Piccolo said and Pan blushed a bit more.

"You both did amazin!" Goku cried out and put his hands on Uub's and Pan's shoulders.

"Thank you, master," Uub said, then sighed a bit.

"Huh?"

"I'm facing Buu in the semi-finals," Uub said and Goku nodded, crossing his arms.

"Bah, you'll be fine, Uub, trust me!" Goku told him. Uub glanced down and Pan put a hand on his shoulder.

"Grandpa's right. You're really good and I know you can handle an opponent like Buu."

"I-I guess so," Uub said, averting his gaze when he noticed Vegeta looking at him. He, 16, and Bulma stood up.

"Great fighting, you two," she told them and Pan smiled up at them.

"Bulla and I put a lot of work into our training, it could've easily have been me that landed out of the ring."

"Don't let your victory get to your head, you have a stronger fighter coming up next," Vegeta told her and walked out of the stands. 16 was still calm and quiet and followed Bulma as she gave them a reassuring smile before joining him. Broly and his family stood up and Lemo stretched his arms out.

"Good to get these old legs walking around again," Lemo said and Arugula rushed over to Pan.

"Pan-Pan!"

"Hey, did you like the fights?" Pan asked. Arugula nodded emphatically.

"You were super strong!" Arugula shouted and Pan blushed.

"C'mon, I'm not that strong. Uub here's the strongest out of all of us, right Uub?" she said, nudging Uub in the ribs. Uub looked distracted and he glanced down to see that a couple pairs of eyes were on him.

"Huh?"

"You're going to beat Buu and get into the finals, right?" Pan said with a thumbs-up and Uub sighed, looking away.

"Buu?" Arugula puzzled.

"That pink guy from the first match against 18," Pan told her and Arugula nodded.

"He looks funny," she said and Pan giggled a bit.

"Kind of," Pan stated and Uub glanced back, offended.

"Hey, I used to look like that before, you know." he said and Pan raised an eyebrow then she nodded.

"Well you don't look like him now if that helps. I'm worried you're thinking about this too much and you'll make a mistake in your fight."

Uub looked at Goku, who shot back with a huge grin on his face and Uub smiled weakly at him, waving. Pan took his hand in hers and squeezed it.

"Besides, you haven't done anything bad the whole time I've known you, Uub, so you have nothing to worry yourself over. Hey Arugula, I want to ask you something."

Arugula looked up quizzically at Pan.

"Has your brother always been such a jerk?" she asked and Arugula frowned. Cheelai cleared her throat.

"If you're referring to Choi, he's not a bad kid. He's kinda inherited my rebellious streak and his father's…temperament," she said, feeling a bit embarrassed as she glanced back at Broly, who was conversing with Goku and Gohan. Lemo had already walked out of the stands, not bothering to wait for them and Pan crossed her arms, frowning.

"Are you sure? He's been very inconsiderate to everyone around him except his brother. I hope he's being good to Arugula. He hasn't been picking on her or hit her or anything, has he?"

Cheelai shook her head. "I let him have it if he ever mistreated Arugula in any way, and he knows better not to mess around on us otherwise the look he gets from his father is enough to set him straight. I hope that enough time spent here on Earth with other people will mellow him out. He's a bit over-excited to be on a different world seeing different people that we haven't had an opportunity to teach him how to conduct himself around strangers."

"Well he better be sure not to do anything to Arugula otherwise I'll clobber him," Pan said, punching her palm with her fist and Cheelai chuckled a bit.

"You remind me of myself when I was your age. You keep a good eye on her, Uub. Don't go losing her," she said, winking at him. Uub and Pan both blushed and she squeezed his hand even more. She walked with Arugula out of the stands and Goku stretched out his arms.

"All this excitement has built up quite the appetite!" he shouted and Pan felt her stomach.

"Well I don't really feel all that hungry. The only thing I ate was that senzu bean, which is weird."

"That's because they supposedly keep you full for up to ten days," Goku said and Pan's eyes widened.

"Huh? But what if there's dumplings I want to eat? Or a hearty bowl of ramen?! Takoyaki? Curry? I'll settle for fried noodle hotdogs if that's the case! I still want to eat something but I don't want to get sick from overeating! Ugh, this sucks!" she grabbed her head and sighed nervously. Uub cleared his throat.

"I'm sure we'll be fine if we eat something. Come on, we don't want to be late," Uub said and took Pan's hand in his.

In the infirmary, Mai looked relieved to see Trunks opening his eyes and he felt his chest and head. He went to sit up but Mai quickly nudged him back down.

"Easy, you've just come to," she said.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"About 20 minutes," Mai told him and he waved her off when he sat up. He felt his chest again and his hands were shaking.

"Are you okay?" Mai asked.

"No, I'm not okay. I haven't been okay for a while. I, I've lost my fighting edge."

Mai sat back on her chair and frowned, looking away.

"I shouldn't have come back, should I?" she said and Trunks looked at her.

"No, don't say that. I'm happy you've come back, Mai. I'm also happy you're willing to work on fixing things with me and giving this another chance."

"I'm not a distraction for you, am I?" she asked and Trunks smiled, shaking his head.

"Of course not. I've been preoccupied with a lot of things. Pressure from dad to increase my training, knowing that I'm eventually going to run Capsule Corporation for mom when she retires, if she retires. Too many things going on all at once can throw off anyone. I think I need a break from all of this and collect my thoughts. I think I'll head back to Goten and Marron and spend some time with them. You want to come with?"

"Of course I'll go with you. A vacation away from home would be nice for the both of us. We can spend time together and not worry about what's going on out there and let them handle everything," Mai said and she took Trunks's hands, moving in to kiss him. When they broke free, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Mai shouted and Bulma and Vegeta walked in. Trunks's eyes widened a bit when he saw Vegeta glare at him and Bulma walked over to him.

"Are you okay?" she said, looking him over.

"I'm fine, mom. There's no considerable damage," he said and Vegeta scoffed.

"That was a poor performance, Trunks. I've trained you better than that."

"I know, father. I'm sorry," Trunks said, looking down at the bed sheet.

"Sweetie, what's bothering you?" Bulma asked, tilting her son's head up to look at her.

"Mom, dad, I think I need a break."

"I see. I guess we have been overworking you so much," Bulma said and pulled up another chair beside Mai. Trunks nodded a bit.

"I know I haven't," Vegeta muttered, looking away and Bulma gave him a look.

"The training's still fine, mom. But I can't seem to keep my mind focused on one thing and I think a break from everything will help me regroup."

"I understand. Take as much time as you need and come back when you feel you're ready," Bulma told him and kissed him on the forehead.

"I'm thinking of going back to see Goten and Marron, maybe spar a bit with him so I don't lag behind so much," Trunks said.

"Kakarot's waiting for us at the restaurant, let's go," Vegeta told Bulma and he walked out of the room. Bulma smiled at him and stood up.

"He won't say it but I think he understands if you need time off. But right now it's time to go feed those hungry Saiyans of ours. You're welcome to join us if you want."

"That's okay, mom. I don't have much of an appetite right now," Trunks said and she shrugged. She waved at the two of them and walked out of the room. Mai stood up.

"Can you walk?" she asked and Trunks nodded.

"I should be fine," he said and threw the bed sheet off of him. He stood and was a bit wobbly but he felt his strength come back in his legs and he walked over to put his clothes back on since he was still in his boxers. Mai could see bruises on his chest where he had been hit and there looked to be quite a few of them and she reached out to touch them.

"The fighter who did this, he's pretty strong to be able to hurt you this much," she said, retracting her hand.

"I couldn't see him move. The moment the gong rang, he disappeared from my sight before the Announcer even said to begin. Next thing I knew I blacked out and woke up here. I've never seen a kid move that fast before. I'm worried for Pan now," he said. He paused, thinking it over and Mai could see that he was contemplating staying on the island a bit.

"I should go talk to them first before I leave," he said and finished dressing himself up. When they left the room, they sought out Uub and Pan, and he could sense they were close by. He waved at them and they ran to meet each other mid-way.

"Trunks! Are you okay?" Pan asked and Trunks nodded. Uub fished out a senzu bean from his bag and handed it to Trunks, but Trunks refused, shaking his head.

"This isn't serious. However, I should warn you not to underestimate that kid when you fight him. I hope you can see his movements better than I could," Trunks told Pan and Pan scoffed, crossing her arms. She glared back at Trunks.

"I can't wait to get my hands on that brat and teach him a lesson," she said and Trunks chuckled a bit.

"Feisty as always, just like how I remembered you from the last tournament," Trunks said and Pan gave him a confident smile.

"Well, hurry up and get your act together, you. I don't like seeing you all mopey like this," Pan told him and Trunks couldn't help but laugh a bit, wincing at the pain it was causing from the bruises.

"I'm taking a break from things for a while. But I'll be sure to keep myself posted on how well you guys do in the rest of the tournament. Best of luck!" Trunks said and began walking away. Mai wrapped her arms around Trunks's right arm and leaned her head against his shoulder and Pan blushed a bit.

"I'm glad those two got back together again, they look so sweet," Pan said and took Uub's hand.

"I wouldn't mind if you did that too sometimes," Uub said and blushed when he realized what he said. Pan gave him a look, smirking.

"You're not the type to flirt," she said and Uub laughed nervously. But Pan wrapped her arms around his regardless and he blushed even more, eyes widening. She giggled a bit and let go, tapping him on the chest.

"Let's go join Grandpa, he's probably already downed twelve plates by now," she said and they rushed back to the restaurant as the sun was setting over the horizon.

 **In the deepest reaches of the universe…**

A set of double doors slid open and Freeza walked out. His face, though displeased, was still relatively calm. Kikono, a short alien with yellow skin and a large wide head, was a long-time servant of the Cold Force before he passed the reigns over to Freeza. He nervously approached him as he stood outside the door, waiting for him with a data pad in his hands.

"Lord Freeza, I have an update on the repairs to the ship," he said. Freeza glanced over at the data pad and saw the numbers on the screen. He frowned as he glanced at him. He winced as a reflex, wondering if he was going to vaporized. Freeza ignored him and walked away.

He had been stuck on Freeza Planet 127 for a while since his ship suffered power fluctuations, forcing them to land to undergo repairs. He spent most of his time in his meditation chamber doing mental training but he clearly felt the boredom get the better of him. Repairs were progressing slower than expected and he was becoming more frustrated at the pacing of the repair crew. Years ago he would've vaporized all of them and flew out into space himself to carry out what he needed, but his time spent in that hellish landscape when he was dead for what felt like ages gave him an opportunity to develop patience. But even his patience had limits and this was testing them even more than the fights he had years ago against those Saiyans.

He stepped into a lounge-like area which gave a nice view of outer space as well as a view of his ship as crewmen were working on the clock non-stop performing maintenance. Standing near the window was Berryblue, the short blue-skinned woman who had been his father's most trusted advisor. She glanced back with a smile on her face as she saw him approach her.

"I demand an explanation, Berryblue," Freeza said, standing beside her with his arms crossed. His tail swished back and forth out of annoyance, a clear sign to Berryblue that his patience wore thin and he was increasingly aggravated. But her smile never faded as she looked ahead at the cruiser.

"Your ship will be fully repaired by the end of the week, Lord Freeza," she stated and Freeza growled under his breath.

"You've confined me to this dung-heap of a planet and repairs are progressing at a snail's pace!" Freeza yelled and he glared at her. Berryblue kept her hands behind her back and glanced up at Freeza occasionally.

"You must understand that our resources are limited due to the ongoing attacks that have so far decimated several planets. We're resorting to reserves from planet 209 to compensate."

Freeza stared ahead at the cruiser. His empire had taken a major hit since a new rebellious faction of space pirates sprung forth several months ago. These space pirates wasted no time conquering planets, pillaging them, and leaving them barren. Their numbers had steadily grown after they had recruited former Freeza Force soldiers. As much as he wanted to wipe them all out, due to their method of spreading out and carrying out specific attacks on Freeza's resources, it has given him a great deal of stress that his training has so far been able to manage.

If only those Saiyans hadn't crippled his empire so long ago, he'd have the manpower to subjugate any and all uprisings, crushing them under his foot for good. In the reflective surface of the glass windows, he could almost make out Goku's face and he wanted to punch it so badly. His hands were gripped in a tight enough fist that blood was dripping out.

"I cannot wait any further. I couldn't care less if the ship is running at 40 percent capacity, I want that ship ready by morning, understood?" Freeza said, glaring down at Berryblue.

"It's currently at sixty-eight percent capacity, my lord, but I am sure we can double the efforts before your departure," she told him. The way she was smiling made him curious, but he ignored her gaze and walked back.

"There is, however, another solution if you're willing to listen," she said and Freeza stopped.

"This had better be good, Berryblue. Not even you are safe at the moment," Freeza said but she wasn't phased in the slightest.

"I have a smaller craft ready for departure to Freeza planet 31," Berryblue said and Freeza spun around, cocking an eyebrow.

"Planet 31 is a wasteland, we abandoned it long ago when it looked unprofitable," Freeza said but was still a bit puzzled at the way she was looking at him.

"What better way of concealing something wonderous, though. What awaits you there might be of use," she said and Freeza crossed his arms.

"And why wasn't this brought up to me sooner?"

"You never asked," she said, chuckling a bit. Freeza groaned a bit under his breath, glancing away. _Damn this woman._

"Fine, get the ship ready for departure immediately. If I'm not impressed, I'm leaving you to rot on that planet, understood?" Freeza said and Berryblue nodded.

"You needn't worry, my lord. It's all been arranged."

The smaller sized ship was about a third the size of the cruiser Freeza was used to flying in and he sat in the main chair of the bridge while the pilots hastily fired up the engines. Berryblue sat to his left while an attendant offered him a glass of his own vintage red wine and Freeza downed it quickly out of frustration. He wasn't fond of this deviation and hoped that this wasn't going to be a waste of his time. However, he always felt that Berryblue's hunches ended up being spot-on and that was one of the main reasons why she wasn't obliterated since he met her. He also appreciated the fact that she had connections across the universe through the Cold Force, giving him a tactical advantage in negotiating land deals with other alien species. She knew more either he or his father did and has several agents scattered across all the galaxies acting as her eyes and ears. There are even undercover operatives working with the galactic patrol to keep them pre-occupied while Freeza ran his Empire.

Travelling to an outlying sector of the southern quadrant, Freeza Planet 31 was a desolate landscape devoid of life. It was originally a planet to settle one of Freeza's top bureaucratic partners but due to the nature of the climate having worsened over time, they abandoned the planet and it was declared a dead zone.

Berryblue and Freeza were the only ones who disembarked from the ship and they walked through the wasteland. She led him to a decrepit building that had broken down decades ago and one good tap could probably crumble all of it to the ground. Freeza followed her through an open doorway which led to an opening in the floor.

"Down here," she said and floated down slowly into the opening. Freeza followed behind and they landed on the floor of an underground laboratory hallway, illuminated by dim lights. His eyes widened a bit as he looked around.

"This wasn't here before," he said and Berryblue smirked.

"Of course not, but that's irrelevant. What we're here for lies beyond those doors ahead," she said and they stopped at a set of large doors. She slid open a small panel that revealed a keypad consisting of ten numbers, and she pressed a sequence of five digits that unlocked the doors. Freeza looked at her with a suspicious gaze.

"I grow weary of all these secrets you keep from me," he said and she chuckled a bit.

"I was going to tell you about this eventually when the time was right, Lord Freeza. I needn't worry keeping anything from you for too long. Once you see what's in here, you'll thank me for it."

He scoffed as he pushed the doors open and there were already several lights illuminating the laboratory. A row of glass tubes filled with organisms persevered in liquid stood before Freeza and he put his hand on one of them. His eyes widened when he looked more closely at the facial features and they resembled someone of his own species. He glared back at Berryblue in anger and was shocked to see what lied in the middle of the room. Two larger sized glass tubes with fully intact organisms floating inside in a fetal position, their eyes closed and their breathing normal.

"What is this? Explain yourself." Freeza said, staring at her.

"A special project I've been working on for a few years with Kikono and Nion before you destroyed Planet Vegeta. Think of it as a contingency plan with regards to our Saiyan problem."

Freeza's face darkened as he stared back at the glass tubes.

"I haven't forgotten them, nor have I forgotten that oafish gorilla, Broly. You intend to unleash whatever is in these tubes upon those Saiyans?"

"You needn't send those for such a task, dear brother," said a voice from the darkness. Freeza's eyes widened as he spun around to the source of the voice and a purple hand emerged from the shadows, firing a finger blast at Freeza. He easily deflected it away and the figure flew out of the shadows for a blow, which Freeza blocked and he glared up at the assailant.

"Now now Cooler, is that any way to greet your family?" Berryblue muttered and Cooler stopped, smiling down at Freeza.

"Please, this is how we always greet each other. So you brought my pint-sized brother after all. Good."

Freeza scoffed at the "short" comment but went back to examine the tubes again. He stared back at Cooler and smiled.

"I honestly thought you died years ago, brother," Freeza said, tracing a finger along the tube as he circled around it.

"I let you have your fun running father's empire while I took care of a few planets here and there in the southern quadrant. I must say though that your performance has been exemplary," Cooler said but Freeza could tell there was a hint of sarcasm behind that tone and he glared at him.

"Now you have three little monkeys running around causing all kinds of shenanigans, breeding with a backwoods species producing even more headaches for you. Father would be so proud."

Freeza clenched his fists, ready to fight back but Cooler raised his hand to stop him.

"Relax. Word gets out to my neck of the woods about what those Saiyans have been up to so I've done a bit of work on my own to figure out a permanent solution to our problem. Luckily Berryblue here was eager to help me craft this little project with some extra tech from a long dead civilization."

"Oh? Indulge me," Freeza said, his wicked grin coming back.

"Do you remember the Tsufurian race, brother?" Cooler asked him and Freeza narrowed his eyes, curious.

"The ones the Saiyans conquered on Planet Plant during father's reign?" he asked.

"Correct," said Cooler. "The most advanced technological civilization in existence. Father took great care to obtain and preserve that technology. While those Saiyans got a considerable amount of information from them, they didn't get all of it."

He placed a hand on one of the tubes and smiled. Berryblue stood beside Cooler and admired the beings inside the glass tubes.

"This is the result of years of painstaking research and development to create the ultimate bio-weapon. I cloned myself using my own DNA and combined with Tsufurian technology, we successfully created hybrid bio-androids. I named them Tundra and Glacial."

He pressed a button on each tube and the liquid drained from each one until they were empty. The bio-androids Tundra and Glacial opened their eyes and the glass lowered to allow them to move out and they stepped down. They were about an inch shorter than Freeza but he noticed that Glacial was female. When they opened their eyes, Freeza noticed that they had no pupils; their whole eyes had a glass-like sheen to them. Their physical features resembled that of Cooler's with faded white and purple skin. They looked around the room and saw Freeza first. They blinked a few times, then they noticed Berryblue and Cooler and smiled at them.

"Hello father," Tundra said.

"Hello father," Glacial said and her smile widened a bit.

"Is it time for us to unleash destruction upon the Saiyans?" Tundra asked and Cooler smirked.

"Of course. You are fully functional and ready for combat, dear children," Cooler said and the two androids smiled.

"They are programmed to respond to your commands as well, Lord Freeza," Berryblue said and Freeza crossed his arms, smiling.

"My my, this is an unexpected development and one I'm glad to welcome wholeheartedly," he said, walking around the androids.

"What is it you wish of us, Uncle?" Glacial asked, posing with her hand on her chin. Tundra was more militant in his posture, standing at attention with his hands behind his back.

"Make your way to Planet Earth and destroy their Dragonballs. Kill anyone who resists," Freeza order and they both grinned.

"Use any means necessary to get the job done, Tundra and Glacial," Berryblue told them and when they recognized her face, their smiles widened a bit.

"What of the Saiyans that are on Earth? Goku and Vegeta might be too strong for them to handle," Cooler said and Freeza chuckled a bit.

"We only need to lure them away so we could fight them ourselves. Prepare your ship's coordinates for Namek, brother."

Cooler's face darkened. "You'd better have a good reason to order me around."

"The Namekian Dragonballs. I have a wish in mind I'd like to have granted and tormenting those little Namekians is the perfect bait to lure Goku and Vegeta to us. Once I have my wish granted I'll destroy those Dragonballs and there won't be any more miracles for those little monkeys to wish for. After I've rid myself of them for good, I'll set my sights on Beerus and pay him a visit. I've grown far stronger than I was during that Tournament of Power that not even the likes of Broly could put a stop to me."

Cooler scoffed. "You sound awfully confident, brother. That's always been the hubris that led to your demise."

He began walking out of the room with Tundra and Glacial tailing him and Berryblue floated to Freeza's side.

"You have been spending a great deal of time training," she told him as they made their way out too. Freeza stared at Tundra and Glacial, then shot a look at Cooler.

"If I'm to regain control of my Empire to squash a maggot infestation, I need to ensure I am fully prepared this time. There will be no more mistakes, Berryblue. Once Goku and Vegeta are dead, nothing will stand in my way to reclaim ownership of my universe."

A defiant and malicious grin appeared on Freeza's face as the doors to the hidden laboratory closed behind them.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – "Kelerot's secret uncovered! The Forsaken techniques revealed."**

"Slow down, will ya?" Bulla shouted as she ran after Choi. He stormed out in disgust and didn't care about the people he bumped into as he passed them by. He was too frustrated with what had happened that he needed to clear some distance to cool off, otherwise he'd have thrown down with Uub and got them both disqualified.

He stopped when Bulla ran past him and turned around to face him.

"Please don't go," she said and Choi sighed, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not going away, Bulla. What do you want with me anyway?"

"Well, I, um, I don't know. I just felt like tagging along," she said, blushing a bit. She wasn't smiling, however, but still had a bit of trouble hiding her crush on Choi. He cocked an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

"Tagging along to give me a talking-down like everyone else?" he said and Bulla shook her head.

"No! I'm not-"

"Skip it, blue," he said, cutting her off. He planted his fists on his hips and leered forward at her. Bulla's eyes widened a bit.

"I know you give me that same look that everyone else does. You underestimate what I'm bringing to this little tournament and I'm going to show everyone: I'm the best fighter of the whole lot of you and I will prove it again tomorrow."

"Choi, I'm not here to doubt you. I know you're a good fighter, I've watched you in the preliminaries. I want to support you but you're pushing me away. Don't you want someone cheering you on? Don't you want a friend to help you? Please, let me be there for you."

She reached out to take his hand but he batted it away. He walked up to her and his face was an inch away from hers, staring intensely into her eyes.

"The only thing I want from you is to leave. me. alone." he said and walked away. Bulla couldn't believe what she heard and her face got angry. She clenched her fists and glared at him as he kept walking.

"Fine, you stupid moron! See if I care what happens to you anymore! You want to be alone? Fine, go be alone! Go win your stupid matches alone, too!" she shouted but Choi didn't say anything in response. She felt confused but mostly angry. She wanted to see if there was some gentler side to him but even she had her limits and felt it wasn't worth fawning over him any longer. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down before making her way back to the restaurant to join up with the others.

Pan and Uub had made their way to the restaurant. Android 16 stood outside since he doesn't eat anything and he gave them a courteous nod as they waved at him. They headed in and saw that everyone had gathered together around one large table. Bulla and Choi were still absent, but she didn't want to wait for them to come back. She wanted to sit beside her parents and they had chairs set up beside them for Uub and her to sit down at, squeezed between them and Goku, who was already deep into several dishes, the empty plates being collected by servers passing by. She noticed Bok was still able to eat despite the senzu bean and shrugged. She wasn't going to let something like a magic bean keep her from good food. Gohan passed a plate of food over to the two and she smiled as she smelled how delicious it wafted against her nose.

Bulla walked up to the entrance and 16 looked in her direction.

"I detect emotional distress," he said and Bulla rolled her eyes, looking at anything except him but the more he stared, the harder it got for her to avoid it and she paced back and forth in front of him.

"I'm such an idiot. I fall for the first guy in a while and he turns out to be a complete jackass," she said and brushed strands of her hair out of her face. She could see everyone inside and sighed.

"You and Dr. Bulma created me. To imply that you are of lower intelligence would indicate your inability to perform such a task, Miss Bulla," 16 said and Bulla grinned.

"I guess if that's your way of cheering me up, thank you," she said and kissed him on the cheek. 16 had no reaction but she looked at him fondly before entering the restaurant. She didn't say anything until she sat down between Bulma and Vegeta. When Pan noticed that she was alone, she nudged Uub.

"Choi's not with her," she said and Uub glanced up.

"Hey Bulla, where'd Choi go?" he asked and she gave him a look. Pan wanted to ask her what happened but Goku interrupted the moment when he saw Kelerot stop by the entrance seconds later.

"Hey Kelerot! I saved a spot on the table! You gotta try these octopus tentacles, they're so tender!" he shouted, which was just as annoying to the other patrons as his eating noises.

Kelerot felt his mouth water as he spotted the large octopus on the table and sat on an empty chair beside Goku, sandwiched between him and Broly. Broly glanced down and Kelerot gave him a friendly smile, but even still, Broly had some difficulty returning the courtesy and went back to eating.

"This is my son, Gohan and his wife, Videl. They're Pan's parents," he motioned to him and Kelerot nodded his head politely.

"Your daughter is a very skilled fighter. This tournament has been both exceptional and entertaining. I eagerly await the semi-final matches," he said and tore off a large tentacle from the cooked octopus, dodging a spray of ink from the creature's reflex. He eyed the spill and chuckled a bit while servants quickly mopped up the mess. He took a large bite and smiled.

"Goodness! You weren't kidding, Goku, this is delicious!" he cried and gingerly devoured the whole thing.

Most of the time was spent eating as the Saiyans ate everything. It didn't seem to matter whether it was pure-blood, half-blood, or even a modicum of Saiyan DNA, Bulma looked around at all of them and sighed, yet she still had a smile on her face.

"My accounting department is going to have a heart attack when they see the bill in a few days," she stated, staring at all the Saiyans at the table. Goku chuckled a bit.

"Well, our farm's been doing amazing so we don't have to worry so much about that. Chichi has everything she needs from our crops so we don't have to shop so often!" Goku said and Kelerot smiled. He almost forgot that Goku had a farm back at his house and felt at some point in the near future he'd have to pay a visit. He nodded.

"I'd love to see this farm of yours after this tournament is over," Kelerot said to Goku and his face lit up.

"Yeah, that'd be awesome. What kind of crops did you grow on your home planet?" he asked and Kelerot paused to think it over but he laughed it off after a moment.

"Gosh, we've had quite the variety. Cabbages, potatoes, carrots, onions, turnips, radishes; our fields stretched out as far as the eye could see. But it was a chore every day when you try to fight off the twin-headed falcons while tending and ploughing fields. They swoop down on you when you least expect it and then boom, you're firmly in their talons as they whisk you away back at your nest to feed their young. We only worry about the were-boars on certain nights but the predatory birds, those have been the bane of our agriculture."

Pan went pale in the face as she listened to Kelerot's description of the predatory birds and almost lost her appetite. She put her hands together and closed her eyes. _May I never have to see anything like that here on Earth, ever._

"Life on your planet must be a constant battle if you have to deal with large predators like that. What about those were-boars? Are they equally vicious?" Goku asked and Kelerot nodded as he downed another plateful.

"Indeed. On certain nights of a full moon, there's a rare chance that a blood moon will appear instead. Were-boars are just normal boars that change into large creatures with six legs, razor sharp teeth and claws to tear through just about anything. No one who was out on the field during a blood moon survived an attack from a herd of were-boars after they transformed."

All eyes were on him as the girls were even more in a state of fear as Pan gripped Uub's hand so tightly she was almost crushing it and he winced at her strong her grip had become. Bulla couldn't hide her fear either and wondered if Vegeta had shown any concern yet his stoic gaze eased the tension for her as he listened.

Kelerot wasn't looking at anyone as he described the creatures, which reminded Broly often of the creatures he had to fight off on Vampa. It made him remember the giant worm-like burrowers and the species his old friend Bah was a part of. Remembering Bah still brought a grin on his face. Cheelai casually covered Arugula's ears so she couldn't hear Kelerot's description of the gruesome creatures and was thankful Arugula never paid attention to ask questions or react in terror. The last thing she wanted to do was calm down a crying child in a crowded area and she knew Arugula spooked easy during some nights on Bloss when strange noises from outside woke her up and she cried for Cheelai and Broly to come comfort her.

"We were lucky to have master Daikon. He was an incredible fighter who protected our village and taught us how to fight back against the were-boars during blood moons and to hunt down the falcons to reduce their population so we don't risk losing any more farmers. When Daikon finished training the first group, they moved onto the other tribes to pass on his teachings so they could have a chance to survive. We were all very resourceful and cooperative. Something I miss greatly about my home."

"Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?" Gohan asked him.

"Not at all. My home world was Planet Gardenia, far away from here. It's sadly not there anymore."

"Your planet's not there anymore? Did it get destroyed?" Gohan asked.

"Yes. A God of Destruction destroyed it," Kelerot said, staring at the food in front of him. His face darkened a bit and Gohan could sense the anger behind that tone and he and Goku both exchanged glances.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Videl piped in and Kelerot quickly glanced at her, as if he were broken from a trance.

"Y-yeah…"

"I guess that makes two of us since the planet I was born on got destroyed too," Goku said and Kelerot's eyes widened a bit. Vegeta glanced at the two of them.

"Was it destroyed by a God of Destruction as well?" he asked.

"No," Vegeta chimed in. "But we've dealt with the one who did."

Kelerot nodded. "I feel as though if I stayed here long enough, I'd have the chance to get to know you all better, either through training or through a friendly fight," he said and Goku chuckled a bit.

"We'd love to have you stay here. I look forward to sparring some more with you to see how strong you really are!" Goku cried and Kelerot glanced at him.

When they all finished, Kelerot stood up.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a walk to help digest. Anyone is welcome to join me, of course," he said.

"I would, but I'm going back to Capsule Corporation. Bulla, I'm going to take Android 16 back with me if that's okay with you?" Bulma said and Bulla nodded.

"Sure, I don't think he'll mind," she said and glanced at Kelerot.

"Hey, if you run into Choi at some point-"

"Hm?"

"Um, nevermind," Bulla said, sighing a bit. She looked down at the table and Kelerot blinked for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders.

"He missed out on good food. His loss I suppose," Kelerot said and waited a moment to see if others were taking him up on his offer but no one else stood up. He smirked a bit and walked out. Pan and Uub waited until he was out of sight before she could breath a bit of a sigh.

"Are you sure you're okay with this guy, grandpa?" she asked Goku.

"Kelerot wants to stick around, I don't see a problem with that. You guys shouldn't worry so much about him," he said and stood up. Vegeta and the others cleared the table as well and Arugula yawned heavily, rubbing her eyes.

"Eating all that food's made you sleepy, huh?" Cheelai said and Arugula nodded.

"Hey, can I by your room later? I'd like read you a story," Pan said and Arugula's face lit up a bit.

"You promise, Pan-Pan?" Arugula asked and Pan took her small hand, wrapping her pinky finger around Arugula's and smiling down at her.

"It's a pinky promise, the best promise out of all of them," Pan told her and Arugula wrapped her arms around her in a hug.

"I won't fall asleep until you come by, okay?" she said and Pan blushed heavily, holding her close. Cheelai ruffled her daughter's hair and smiled at Pan.

"At least I know who to ask if I ever need a babysitter," Cheelai said, chuckling a bit.

"Aren't we too far away to be having babysitters over?" Lemo asked and Cheelai elbowed him in the ribcage.

"While we're still here, you moron," she said and glanced back at Pan.

"If it's at your home world, I can easily take Pan there for you with Instantaneous movement," Uub piped in and Pan looked up at him.

"That thing Goku does?" Cheelai asked, if her memory serves her correctly.

"Yeah, Master Goku taught it to me as well," he said and Pan smiled a bit.

"Pan and I can look after Arugula together, if you want," he said and Pan blushed a bit more.

"Uub, you don't have to go through-"

"It's fine. I think she'll be happy to have the both of us watching her and telling stories, right Arugula?" he said, bending down be at eye-level with her.

"Yay, more stories!" Arugula cried out and Pan closed her eyes. _Uub…_

"I'll be returning to Lord Beerus's world. I'll need you to take me back, Kakarrot," Vegeta said, walking over to Goku.

"Papa? You're going back so soon?" Bulla asked and Vegeta nodded.

"You're free to do whatever you want for the rest of the tournament; however, I must get back to my own training," he told her and Bulla nodded. She glanced at Bulma who had a smirk on her face.

"It doesn't surprise me. Don't give them too much trouble, understand?" she said and Vegeta grinned a bit.

An energy sphere materialized above their table and a projection of Whis appeared within it, drawing all eyes on him. Several patrons freaked out a bit over the strange sight and the group at the table paused.

"Hello, everyone!" Whis said.

"Hey Whis! Good timing! I was just about to take Vegeta back to see you guys!" Goku cried, chuckling a bit.

"Oh good to hear! It just so happens I need to speak to the both of you. It's of a somewhat urgent matter," he said.

"And tell them to bring food with them this time!" Beerus could be heard shouting in the background. Bulla's eyes lit up when she heard his voice.

"Uncle Beerus! Hey!" she shouted and Whis waved back.

"A lot of you are gathered together from the looks of it," he said and Goku nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! We've got a lot of fighters taking part in the World Martial Arts Tournament since Hercule retired so now we get to see a new champion!"

"Ah yes, the 'Best under the Heavens' tournament. Don't worry, I won't keep you two for very long. You know where to find us," Whis said and the sphere disappeared.

"What does Whis want with Goku?" Bulma asked and Goku shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats me. But now I don't know what to bring Lord Beerus as a gift," Goku said, hand to his chin.

Lemo stood up and walked over to him.

"Don't you worry about that, Goku. I've got something just for that occasion in case I ever ran into those two again. I know they'll love it and I made extra in case. Wait right here, I'll be right back!"

Lemo ran as fast as he could back to the hotel to fetch the item in question, a case full of capsules that contained other boxes full of various dishes and desserts he prepared in advance. He rushed back and handed it over to Goku.

"Here you are," he said and Goku smiled, taking the case.

"Thank you!" he said and held the case to his side. Vegeta placed a hand on Goku's shoulder as he put two fingers to his forehead, sensing Whis and Beerus's energy. It took him a bit longer due to the nature of their divine energy and Vegeta grew uncomfortable with his hand on Goku's shoulder.

"What's taking you so long?" He asked.

"Sorry, it's been a while since I sensed divine energy so it's taking a bit longer," Goku said and he eventually felt it.

"Ah! There we go," he said and the two disappeared.

When they reappeared, they were in the strange structure where Whis was standing in front of a set of doors to the dining hall.

When Whis bowed at the two of them, he glanced at Goku for a moment, but didn't say anything. Beerus cleared his throat behind the two Saiyans and they turned around. He was lounging back on a chair, looking bored.

"You brought something I hope?" Beerus asked. Goku nodded and handed Beerus the case. He opened it and eyed several capsules in it.

"How am I supposed to eat these? They don't look edible," he said and Vegeta took one out of the case.

"Bulma's company manufactures these capsules to store large items inside. Watch," he said and activated one of them, tossing it to the floor. What popped up was a box which Whis opened with the tip of his staff. Inside were several smaller boxes intricately wrapped and the aesthetics of the designs made him smile.

"Goodness, you didn't have to go all out on this one, Goku," Whis said and even Vegeta was impressed by the level of detail in the ribbons and the packaging.

"It's from Lemo, actually. He said you'd like it," Goku said and Beerus rushed over to the box.

"Did you say Lemo made these?" he said. He sounded like a kid eager to play with a new toy.

Whis took out one of the boxes and carefully unwrapped it. Inside were two containers that contained a creamy substance, dark brown in color. Whis and Beerus sniffed at it and Beerus's face lit up.

"Is that, could it really be…pudding?!" he said, nervously reaching out for one of them. Whis chuckled a bit and graciously handed one of them to him. He conjured two spoons and handed one to Beerus.

"The dark color of the pudding would indicate that it's made with chocolate, my Lord," Whis said and he dabbed at it with a spoon. It felt smooth and glided in easily, and he took a heaping of pudding to bring up to his mouth. He shuddered and made an audible moan in his throat after he swallowed it and he devoured the rest quickly. Beerus nervously put a heaping of pudding in his mouth and his eyes began to water. He wore the biggest smile on his face as he happily ate the rest of it.

"I can die a happy Destroyer from now on! This is the best thing I've ever eaten!" he said, laughing merrily. "It's soft, creamy, with just the right amount of sweetness that doesn't overpower the senses. This is absolute perfection!"

"Glad to know you like it," Goku said and Beerus glared at him.

"'Like' it?! You don't just go to something like pudding of this caliber and say you 'like' it. I adore this and I don't know if I want to eat anything else from now on! I'll eat a planet full of this pudding if I have to!"

Goku gave Vegeta a beaming smile and he looked away.

"So much for instant ramen noodles," Vegeta muttered and Whis took out another box and unwrapped it. Inside was authentic home-made ramen noodles, ready to be heated up and served.

"You were saying, Vegeta?" Whis told him, holding up the bowls and Vegeta gulped, blushing a bit.

"I'm ready to resume training, Lord Beerus," Vegeta informed them and Whis nodded.

"Of course, in due time. However, that will have to wait until after we've entertained our guests. Lord Beerus, you'll have to hold off on the rest of these delicacies."

Beerus stared intently at the ramen for a while longer before glaring at the two and sighed.

"Very well, lead the way," Beerus said and glanced at the ramen in the bowls, salivating at the texture of those dishes. He wanted to heat one up and bring it with him but chose to heed his patience for now and walked in the other room with Whis.

Goku and Vegeta stopped and stared in shock at the three figures at the other end of the long dining table and Goku's face lit up with a huge smile.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting to see you again, Toppo!" Goku said and the mustachioed man cleared his throat.

"Son Goku of the seventh, we meet again. I, however, no longer go by that name. I am to be addressed as Lord Barbon," he told him, standing up. His stature was more imposing and Vegeta remembered this particular body type when he fought him at the Tournament of Power. This wasn't Toppo the Pride Trooper, but rather the form he took when he tapped into his Destroyer's power and unleashed destruction energy on the battlefield. He could see him decked out in the same Destroyer's garb as Lord Beerus and seeing as how Belmod wasn't there he deduced that Toppo had replaced him.

"Lord Barbon, huh? That sounds pretty awesome!" Goku cried out and rushed to greet him. Barbon cleared his throat and held his hand up.

"The pleasantries will have to wait another time. We have important matters we need to address. This concerns not only your universe, but all of them."

"All twelve?" Beerus asked, siting down at the end of the table opposite of Barbon. Marcarita stood to his left while Cae was seated to his right. Whis stayed standing beside Beerus as he lounged back on his chair with one leg draped over the other.

"I would ask that Goku and Vegeta be seated as well, there is a lot to explain," Cae told them and the two Saiyans sat down at each side of Beerus.

"Shall I offer refreshments in the meantime?" Whis asked and Barbon shook his head.

"We cannot stay for too long I'm afraid. Once we deliver our message we'll be on our way back to our universe," Marcarita told them and Cae cleared his throat as he stood up.

"A mortal from our universe escaped from our maximum security space prison a few months ago," he began and Vegeta glanced at him.

"That doesn't sound like an issue we should be worried about," Beerus stated.

"Normally it wouldn't. However, this mortal has knowledge of one of the forsaken techniques and has used it to his advantage to escape captivity. He destroyed the prison and everyone in it, including fellow Pride Troopers Tupper and Vuon."

Goku and Vegeta's eyes widened, Beerus as well.

"No way, he killed some of your Pride Troopers?" Goku said.

"What do you mean he knows one of the Forsaken techniques?" Beerus asked.

"We have reason to speculate that this mortal knows the technique of Kinetic Delving, one of the three forsaken techniques," Marcarita chimed in. Beerus leapt to his feet and slammed his hands on the table.

"Kinetic Delving?!" he yelled. Goku and Vegeta looked at each other. Goku shrugged his shoulders and Vegeta glanced back at Marcarita.

"Um, Kinetic Delving? Forsaken techniques? I'm really lost here," Goku said.

"If I may," Whis interjected. Beerus sighed heavily and sat back down on his chair.

"Several eons ago, there have been individuals known to be in possession of powerful and dangerous abilities. The first of which was Kinetic Delving: a technique which allows the user to Delve another fighter's energy and uncover everything there is to know about them."

"That doesn't sound like something I'd be worried about. It looks like it can help you figure out your opponent a bit better and what they can use in a fight," Goku said.

"Normally skilled fighters study their opponents and learn of how they fight and what techniques and abilities they used, special transformations, and style of fighting to give them an idea of what they're up against. It was eventually discovered that Kinetic Delving had limitless potential and depth of acquisition. A delver can not only obtain the fighter's techniques and fighting style, but the depth of their knowledge, their memories, even secrets they buried in their subconscious. It's a rather invasive ability. Used in the wrong hands, a hostile individual can delve his opponent and gain untold advantages over them. What makes this technique so dangerous is that delving isn't limited to mortals. Destroyers, Kais, even us Angels are at risk of being delved without our knowledge because the delver in question can hide their intent and you wouldn't know it until it was too late."

Goku's eyes widened. "Woah, that's one powerful technique."

Whis nodded. "Precisely, which was one of the first techniques deemed forsaken by Grand Zeno. If word ever got out to him that there's a mortal that knows one of the Forsaken techniques, he might erase the universe entirely just to destroy that one mortal and ensure that such a technique could never be passed on."

Goku and Vegeta looked back in surprise.

"So you can see why this is a problem," Beerus said, glaring at the Saiyans. "If this mortal somehow continued delving stronger entities, he could easily delve the Omni Kings if he wanted to. He'd be able to take advantage of their naïve nature and gain their friendship while secretly delving them to acquire their power and he'd be virtually unstoppable at that point."

"So what of the other two Forsaken techniques?" Vegeta asked.

"You should be quite familiar with the second one, Vegeta. Remember Zamasu?" Whis said and Vegeta's face darkened a bit as he got more serious. Goku frowned as well.

"Time manipulation, to be more specific. We cautioned the future version of Trunks about the consequences of bending space and time with technology, and you saw the chaos that ensued when Zamasu gained a hold of Gowasu's time ring. Time manipulation has severe restrictions, with certain exceptions being our ability to reverse time for no more than three minutes, or techniques such as Hit's time-skip are acceptable but only for their intended purpose."

Goku felt a bit uneasy hearing about these forsaken techniques and he wondered if he should ask about the third but Whis smiled at him, knowing he was going to ask anyway.

"The third forsaken technique is Psionism," Whis said.

"Psionism?" Goku asked, looking really lost.

"You needn't worry about that one, however. The practitioners of this technique ceased to exist millions of years ago. They were a race of ancient psychic warriors gifted with an unlimited array of psionic abilities that rivalled even the Grand Minister."

"Woah! Really?!" Goku exclaimed, eyes wide at the notion. It jogged a bit of his memory about the time he first met the Grand Minister and how powerful he felt to him. To hear that there used to be beings that rivaled his power sent a bit of a shiver down his spine.

"Telepathy," Whis continued, "telekinesis, the ability to manipulate one's memories and change them, the ability to invade your deepest subconscious to the point of possession, making you unconsciously do their bidding. They rivaled us due to their extraordinary ability to bend reality at their will. They didn't possess a lot of physical strength, but their psionic power made them very dangerous in other ways. They were what led Grand Zeno to destroy the Thirteenth through the Eighteenth Universes in his anger."

"You can see now why the mere mention of a mortal with knowledge of a Forsaken technique cannot be taken lightly," Beerus said, glancing at Goku and Vegeta.

"So there's a mortal who knows delving, huh?" Goku said and he glanced at Barbon and Cae.

"Yes. He managed to get to myself and Lord Barbon without our knowledge and delved the both of us. He gained a tremendous amount of power by combining the power of a Supreme Kai with that of a God of Destruction. If he spent enough time discovering all there is to know about us, he could easily become stronger than a Destroyer, possibly strong enough to take on an angel if he trained long enough."

"So do you want us to fight him?" Goku asked.

"We want you both to keep a close eye on him if he ever showed up in this universe. We're issuing the same warning to the other universes as well. Lord Iwen and Awamo of the First Universe are looking into the source of this forsaken technique and will find out who this mortal learned it from. If we can trace the source back to the original mortal who discovered it, we can take him out and destroy those who learned it as well."

Marcarita moved her staff forward and projected an image above the table for everyone else to see and Goku and Vegeta's eyes widened as they gasped.

"This is the mortal we're looking for," she said and the Saiyans stood up.

"Vegeta, that's-"

"Dammit, I knew something was strange with him," he muttered and he stared at Barbon and Cae.

"He's currently on earth," he told them and Barbon's eyes widened a bit.

"You've already encountered him?"

"Yeah, but when we found him he was almost dead. I didn't know who he was at the time and I didn't want to leave him for dead so we healed him," Goku said and Barbon sunk a bit into his seat.  
"I see. That is unfortunate," he said.

"Has he come into further contact with you or Vegeta, as in touching you physically?" Cae asked and Goku thought it over for a moment.

"He did fight with us briefly," Vegeta said and Cae had a grim look on his face.

"Then it's very likely he's delved the both of you as well as anyone he's had physical contact with. I should also warn you both that he had fought Jiren prior to his escape. Jiren bested him but he managed to break free and eluded us until the day we celebrated Lord Barbon's anniversary as a Destroyer on planet Netfiss. It was there that he made his move to delve Lord Barbon and myself. He took out several bystanders and citizens with destruction energy before he teleported away with my ability. Your planet must've been where he teleported to after he had been considerably damaged by Lord Barbon and Jiren."

"If he knows Jiren's abilities, he knows Jiren's strength and can use that to his advantage," Vegeta said and Goku looked even more puzzled.

"But I don't get it though. He doesn't even look like he's an evil guy and I'd know for sure if he had bad intentions. He wants to stay on our planet and train with us."

"Even so, you should be cautious. He's on our planet for now, and if we antagonize him, he could become a problem. I've trained myself every day for the chance to fight Jiren again and I know Jiren would've done the same. There's also the possibility that Kelerot discovered Ultra Instinct when he delved you."

"That would not be possible," Whis said. Vegeta glanced at him.

"Delving is not without its drawbacks. Instinctual fighting is not so much a technique but rather mastery of the self. A delver cannot gain any such knowledge because it's not exactly a grasp of knowledge but rather a reflexive type of movement. The lessons I've imparted on you both to teach each muscle to move independently on their own doesn't impart any specific technique, which is why no matter how many times he may delve Goku, he won't be able to gain use of Goku's ability to achieve Ultra Instinct."

"I still have a long way to go before I even fully tap into Ultra Instinct," Goku said and he looked at his hands pensively.

"That isn't the main drawback about kinetic delving. Delving too much puts a huge psychological burden on the user. I can't begin to imagine what must be going through his head after he delved Lord Barbon and Cae due to the accumulated knowledge a Supreme Kai wields through a lengthy existence."

"So he's becoming progressively unstable?" Vegeta asked.

"It's very likely his mind will no longer handle the burden of Cae's depth of knowledge as well as Barbon's god-like strength and will result in a psychotic episode. Are you absolutely certain Kelerot has malicious intent towards you and everyone else on Earth, Goku?"

"No sir," Goku said. Barbon frowned as he stood up.

"He is a dangerous mortal who has vowed revenge for the destruction of his planet. I doubt anything will keep him from achieving that goal. An evildoer such as him cannot be ignored, Goku," he said and Goku glanced back at him.

"Well, if he does do something that threatens earth I'll make sure to stop him," Goku said with a confident smile on his face.

"Then it's settled. I have some delicious food to eat. Whis," he said, motioning to him to join him outside the room. Barbon approached Goku and Vegeta.

"You have a strange sense of justice, but it is not too different from my own. I forgave your past transgressions after your display of strength at the Tournament of Power and being able to get through to Jiren proving that he doesn't have to rely on his own strength all the time has been beneficial. I suppose I have you to thank for that, Goku."

"Yeah."

"We must be off and warn the other universes of this mortal in the event he teleports elsewhere. Until then, maintain constant vigilance and do not take this mortal lightly. If I were still leader of the Pride Troopers, I would not hesitate to capture him and return him to our universe so he could be punished for his crimes. My current sworn oath as Destroyer prevents me from doing so, I'm afraid. Farewell, Goku and Vegeta, may you fight bravely and justly."

He felt a bit of regret in his tone as he spoke, and Goku could see that Barbon wanted to take this matter in his own hands and solve this problem. He did feel a bit more confident in Goku and stood beside Cae and Marcarita.

"We should inform the Galactic Patrol of Kelerot's abilities and have them keep an eye on him," Vegeta said.

"Your universe has a version of the Pride Troopers?" Barbon told him and Vegeta nodded.

"Very well. If they are capable fighters, then I have faith that they will carry out justice in our stead," Barbon said and bowed politely at the Saiyans.

"When this does get resolved, let's have a rematch someday!" Goku said, waving at him. Barbon grinned behind his large mustache and the three disappeared from the room. When Goku and Vegeta walked back into the previous room, Beerus and Whis were enjoying the rest of the food Goku had brought them and they were all smiles.

"So Vegeta, since you've been training so much with Lord Beerus and Whis, does this mean you're working on a new technique?" he asked and his face was so close to Vegeta's he almost wanted to punch it.

"Sh-shut up! That's none of your business, Kakarrot! Go back to Earth and keep an eye on Kelerot. Make sure no harm comes to anyone, especially my family."

"You got it! See ya!" Goku said and put two fingers to his head, disappearing shortly.

"You should've gone back instead, Vegeta," Beerus said as he tapped a plate with his fork. He sliced through another piece of cake and put it in his mouth, smiling.

"I have no doubts about Kakarrot's intuition," Vegeta said, taking a capsule from his pocket to activate it. It was a case that had several of his battle uniforms inside and he took one out to change.

"It's not his intuition that I'm curious about, it's his strength," Beerus said.

Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"While Goku has made progress training his mortal body, he's spent considerably less time training his divine energy and it has diminished somewhat. If he ever fought seriously against any of the strong opponents he's faced in the past, I doubt he'd actually win this time. But that is of course upon first observation."

When Vegeta finished dressing in his battle gear, he tightened the gloves in his hands and tapped his boots to secure them snugly on his feet.

"He has spent several years training Uub to use his power. The reincarnation of Majin Buu became his objective above everything else. If he decides to re-train his divine energy, he'd catch up in no time."

"Are you confident in Uub's fighting ability?" Whis asked and Vegeta scoffed, crossing his arms.

"He still has trouble believing in his own strength. He'd have no trouble with his confidence if I were the one who trained him," he said but knew that Goku was the ideal teacher for Uub to train with and grow stronger. Goku's unique way of bringing out the strength in others and his confidence will help Uub tremendously and he was hopeful that Uub will do well in his match against Buu.

 **At the beach…**

Goku reappeared near Kelerot as he was walking along the sandy beach. He paused as he stared out into the ocean and glanced at Goku with a smile on his face.

"Hey. I like this breeze, it feels nice," he said and Kelerot nodded, closing his eyes.

"A warm ocean breeze. We didn't really have that many oceans back on Gardenia. Anyone who ever came close to the oceans were swallowed by the sea dragon that inhabited it," Kelerot said, shuddering a bit.

"We've got lot of large creatures out there too but none as dangerous as those you told me about earlier. We should go fishing out here later, I know a great diving spot where you can get a really huge one!"

"I would not mind that," Kelerot said. He spotted a rock and threw it at the water, the rock skipping a few times as it knifed through the water far away. Goku looked impressed at the throw and threw a rock himself, clearing the same distance. Kelerot glanced back at him with a smirk on his face. He paused a moment and looked around, frowning a bit.

"I don't sense Vegeta anywhere," he said.

"He left to go resume his own training. He's got a few goals he wants to accomplish and I can't wait to see where his training will take him," Goku said and Kelerot grinned again.

"You have a very carefree attitude about a lot of things from what I've noticed, even though you do tend to get a little nosy," Kelerot said and Goku chuckled a bit.

"When you've got family and friends you're confident can take care of themselves, you don't have to worry so much about the big problems. Once this Tournament is over I want to get back to my strict training so I can have my rematch with Jiren and Lord Barbon."

Kelerot's eyes raised a bit. "Lord Barbon?"

"Yeah," Goku said and Kelerot's eyes narrowed a bit.

"I sensed something was weird when you and Vegeta left the planet. Where did you two go?"

"To Lord Beerus's world at Whis's request and Lord Barbon, his Supreme Kai and his attendant were there as well. They were worried about you having this power, what was it again? Kinetic Delving?"

Kelerot felt his heart sink as his face grew a shade paler and he sighed. "So you know, then."

"Well, I only got one side of the story. They say you escaped from a prison and you killed a lot of people. I don't know what made you do that but that does make me feel uneasy about what you want to do here in our universe."

Kelerot's face darkened a bit. "Do you intend to turn me in, then?"

Kelerot stared at him. He looked a bit worried as he stated that and Goku put his hands on his hips.

"I don't know yet," he said and Kelerot frowned, staring down at the sand.

"I'll admit that I did take the lives of several hundred people. But please understand that in those instances, my hand was forced. That one who calls himself Barbon now isn't what you think he is. His warped sense of what he calls 'justice' creates a lot more problems than it solves."

Goku crossed his arms, pondering for a moment. While he hadn't met Barbon for that long, the man who was once Toppo had a very honorable sense of fighting to him even though Goku was a bit confused at first as to why he was always looked at as though he was an evil guy. He cared more about Barbon's strength than his character and couldn't help but grin at the thought of fighting him again, only this time as a full-fledged God of Destruction. He still yearned to have a rematch with Beerus some day and his excitement only grew from there. The wheels began spinning in his head.

Kelerot couldn't help but grin as well. He felt the urgency in Goku's eyes, he wanted another fight. _I guess Saiyans in this universe have a bigger lust for battle than I do._

Kelerot smirked and then disappeared in front of Goku, catching him off guard. He reappeared and readied a punch that was coming for Goku's face but he stopped himself from following through. Goku had a serious face as he stared at him.

"You didn't react," Kelerot said. Goku smiled.

"I can tell you weren't serious with that attack," he said and Kelerot chuckled a moment.

"Heh, you're definitely a lot more seasoned. However," Kelerot said and Goku looked a bit confused until he noticed that Kelerot's hand was touching his midsection. He stared in surprise and Kelerot lowered his hands.

 _When did he?_ Goku thought and Kelerot crossed his arms as he stared out at the ocean.

"I wanted to see what you and Toppo were talking about there. I delved into your memories," he said and Goku felt a chill.

"Hey, I know you've got this technique and all, but I'm not sure you should be using it that way," Goku said. Kelerot glanced back at him and didn't say anything. He closed his eyes and brought his hands behind him.

"I only care about what's relevant to me," he said and when he looked over the meeting with Barbon his eyes flared open and he clenched his fists. Goku could feel energy swelling up around Kelerot but it calmed down shortly afterwards as his fists relaxed.

"No," Kelerot sighed. He took a deep breath and glanced at Goku.

"There's still time until the next round of fighting, is there?" he asked and Goku nodded.

"Yeah, the semi finals aren't until tomorrow afternoon," Goku said.

"Good. There is much I need to discuss with you. I don't expect you to trust me, but at the very least hear me out. But I will promise you this: as long as I am in this universe, no harm shall come to any of you or this planet. It would be a grave dishonor as a guest if I were to attack the host of the party. I still do take my master's words to heart about etiquette and conduct not only on the battlefield but in the domiciles of others."

"I'd love to see how strong you really are though. Can you show me? If you do that I'll listen to anything you gotta say," Goku said with his hands to his hips and Kelerot's eyes widened a bit.

"You want to fight me again?" Kelerot asked and Goku put his hands together.

"Please?" Goku pleaded and Kelerot looked at him uneasily but smiled, shaking his head.

"Fine, but I don't expect to hold back though. I hope you've got a great deal of strength in you, especially that one technique you've got. What was it called again?"

"Oh that? You're probably talking about Ultra Instinct," Goku cried out and Kelerot's eyes widened.

"Ultra…Instinct…" _I heard stories from Daikon about warriors of old with the ability to master their movements to near instinctual levels, tapping into a power beyond anything imaginable. Is this what he was talking about? This Ultra Instinct which is said to shatter all barriers and remove limitations making you the perfect unopposed fighter?_

"Hey, you alright?" Goku asked and Kelerot cleared his throat.

"Yes, yes of course. I'm sort of familiar with such a phenomenon yet I've never seen it with my own eyes. I'd love to experience that for myself one day. I'd hate to have to run into that during our fight!" Kelerot said, laughing a bit.

"We should find a place where we don't put anyone in harm's way," Goku said.

"Agreed. I'll let you choose the location," Kelerot said and Goku offered his hand, bringing two fingers to his forehead. Kelerot took it and the two disappeared from the beach.

 **A Nightmare…**

Meanwhile, Uub had relaxed himself in his room and drifted into a restless sleep, tossing and turning moments later. The room he shared with Trunks was now empty, with only his belongings left. There was a chill in the air as the wind blew through the curtains in the open window, a low eerie moan sounding off in the distance as Uub's face grunted and his moans of anguish grew in his voice.

"Pan…don't…get away…" he muttered in his sleep and his hands clutched the sheets tightly.

He jerked around on the bed, grunting and growling and he screamed himself awake.

"PAN!"

He breathed heavily from his sweat-soaked face and he looked down at his hands. They were still shaking and he threw the blanket off of him and onto the floor. He looked at the clock on the nightstand and saw that it was still early in the night. He sighed, realizing he hadn't been asleep that long but felt afraid to go back to sleep now after experiencing another nightmare.

"Uub?" came Pan's voice from behind the door as she knocked a couple times. "I heard you scream my name, is everything alright?"

Uub was still in his boxer shorts when he rushed to the door and opened it. In his panicked state he quickly wrapped his arms around her and brought her in for an embrace. Pan was a bit freaked out and blushed a bit from this but wasn't too keen on being so close to his sweat soaked body and gently nudged herself away.

"You're safe, thank goodness," Uub said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Of course I'm safe. What's with you all of a sudden?" Pan asked and Uub leaned back against the doorframe.

"I saw myself change into Buu and I was about to kill you. I screamed at you to run away but I was too fast and then…"

He looked at his hands again and saw that they were still the same tanned color as they always were. He began frequently looking at his hands more often after his first meeting with Buu to see if they would become the same color as his. Pan grabbed his hands.

"You had another bad dream, didn't you?" she said and Uub stared down at her.

"I don't know what any of this means, Pan. I'm scared as to what this might lead to. They said I was reincarnated, but what if something went wrong in the process and I might change back? What if the more I tap into this energy, the more I might lose my grip and go insane? I don't want to hurt anyone, Pan, especially you."

"Then I'll kick your butt and bring you back to your senses, mister," Pan said, smirking.

"Pan, this isn't funny! These dreams and these memories that are surfacing have to mean something, don't they? Please take this more seriously!"

"I am taking this seriously, but I also need you to relax. How are you supposed to win the tournament if you're always such a nervous wreck?" she asked, giving him a look. She spun him around and shoved him back in his room.

"Go change and come with me to Broly's room. I want you to spend some time with me, Bulla, and Arugula. Get your mind off of what's troubling you so you don't panic tomorrow."

Uub reluctantly got himself dressed and met Pan back out in the hallway, closing the door. Pan took his hand and began walking, forcing Uub to quickly keep up with her.

When they arrived at Broly's room, Pan knocked on the door. Cheelai opened it up for them and the two walked in.

"Hey you guys, glad you could make it. The party's getting pretty wild in here," she told them and Uub raised an eyebrow. They removed their shoes and placed them neatly with the others and walked into the room. Broly and Lemo were busy playing a 2-player video game, both seated on the floor while Bok was on one of their beds. Bulla was there was well, entertaining Arugula with a coloring book and she smiled as she saw Pan and Uub come into view. Cheelai went to the mini fridge and popped open a couple of bottles, handing one over to Lemo as she sat down to drink from hers.

Arugula's eyes and face lit up when she saw Pan and she quickly hopped out of her chair to jump up and give Pan a hug.

"You came like you said you did, Pan-Pan!" Arugula cried and Pan ruffled the girl's hair as she set her down. Bok walked over to the four of them, clearing his throat nervously.

"Thank you for coming," he said, looking away. Pan glanced around, frowning.

"Where's the brat?" she said, staring at him.

"Still out there somewhere. Mom and Dad called out for him and Dad felt for his energy but Choi seems to be suppressing it for now. Dad says he'll be back but I can tell Mom's starting to get a bit worried the longer he's still out there."

Bulla leered forward at him a moment. "I read something about twins having this weird psychic link between each other that allows them to sense each other's location no matter how far apart they are. I'm pretty sure you two have that going for each other, right?"

"Well, sort of I guess. Choi's safe, if you're wondering. I'm not as worried about him as Mom is though. He'll be back soon, I know he won't want to be away from Uncle Lemo's cooking for too long," Bok said, smiling politely at them. Pan scoffed and turned away while Uub nodded back politely as well. He watched Broly and Lemo play their game with intense looks on their faces as the characters they were controlling on the screen were fighting each other and Lemo's character knocked out Broly's character with a kick to the back followed by an energy blast.

"Hah! Score another win for ol' Lemo!" he cried out. He groaned as he stood up, realizing he was on the floor for too long and passed the controller over to Cheelai.

"Go easy on your husband," he said and stretched out his limbs. Cheelai sat on the edge of the bed and put a hand on Broly's shoulder.

"You want to play something else?" she asked. Bulla quickly went over to the console and Cheelai handed the controller over to her.

"I think I can find something a little less 'competitive' for you guys. Some sort of action adventure title? I got one where you pilot a giant robot and you fight other giant robots as you save your kingdom and its people from alien forces."

"They make games like that?" Lemo asked, curious.

"Yeah! They make all sorts of games! Here, let me show you all the titles I've got saved up on this and we'll play all night!" Bulla cried with excitement.

"Maybe just a couple more," Cheelai said. "I don't want to keep Arugula up past her bedtime."

"Don't worry about Arugula, Mrs. Broly," Pan said and Cheelai blushed a bit, having never heard her being addressed by 'Mrs. Broly' before and she smiled a bit, wrapping her arms around the large Saiyan.

Uub decided to stand by the window and look outside. Bok walked up to him and stared out the window as well.

"Are you still bothered by Choi?" he asked. Uub paused for a moment, then glanced back in surprise.

"Huh? Oh, no, sorry. I've just got a lot on my mind with regards to my opponent tomorrow."

Bok walked over to the table and pulled up a chair.

"Come, sit down and tell us a story. I think Arugula would love that, wouldn't you, sis?" Bok asked and Arugula nodded gleefully.

"Are you going to tell me how you and Pan-Pan got to like each other a lot?" she asked and both Pan and Uub panicked, going red in the face.

"Um, we're…we're just friends, Arugula. We like each other, yes, but um…" she glanced at Uub and he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah, what she said. Pan and I are good friends, like the way you guys are good friends with us," Uub told her and Arugula looked at him suspiciously.

"Mama always would say that people who really really like each other have that shade of red on their face, so I think you and Pan-Pan really really REALLY like each other," Arugula said and Bulla couldn't help but burst out laughing. Cheelai laughed a bit as well and Pan couldn't help but bury her face in the table. Lemo just rolled his eyes and Broly blushed a bit as he glanced over at his daughter.

"Um, sis, maybe tone it down a touch? I think they look pretty embarrassed enough as it is," Bok said and Arugula stared at both Pan and Uub and motioned Bok to lean forward.

"Sorry big brother, I won't make Pan-Pan's face all red like that," she whispered to him and flashed the OK sign and Bok smiled back, flashing the sign back to her.

Bulla had to wipe away tears from her face as she sat down at the table and Pan glared at her.

"Not a word about this to _anyone_. Whatever happens stays in this room," she told her and Bulla leaned back with her hands behind her head.

"AHEM! Now then. Uub? Care to tell us a story?" Pan asked, glaring back at Bulla and Bok. She didn't want to look imposing on Arugula but she couldn't hide the admiration she felt when she glanced her way.

"Um, a story. I, um, I don't really know any stories, to be honest," he said and Pan cocked an eyebrow.

"Surely grandpa has told you a few of his own now and then," she said and Uub crossed his arms.

"Well, there was one I remember. It had to do with one of my old teachers before I met master Goku. He said he had a bit of a history with him back when he was a kid."

Uub began telling what he could remember Goku regaling him with and he stood up and began miming the motions as he narrated the story while Bulla, Bok, Arugula, and Pan were listening attentively. Broly and Cheelai played their game while Lemo was prepping something in the kitchen, since the room was large enough for him to bring his own kitchen set with him. Pan stared at Uub with a loving grin on her face as her gaze was fixated on nothing but him. Bulla could notice that as well and occasionally she and Bok glanced at each other while Arugula watched Uub with eyes and mouth open, mesmerized by the story.

When Uub finished, the other kids clapped and Pan whistled, cheering him on. Uub stopped and stared at her, and she realized how excited she was and quickly calmed herself down when all eyes were on her now.

The door to the room opened and Choi stepped in, looking a bit tired. He closed the door behind him and walked into the room. He stopped when he saw the group and glared at Uub, Pan, and Bulla.

"What the hell are you all doing here?" he sneered and Lemo shoved a basket of dumplings in his chest.

"Eat. Forget about those three and just eat something, you gotta be starving by now," he told him and Choi felt his stomach growling, hearing it for the first time since he stormed out hours ago.

Choi slumped down on the bed behind his mom and dad and ate furiously. He decided to ignore everyone for now and ate voraciously, shovelling the food into his mouth.

"Maybe we've been here too long," Uub said and Pan sighed, glaring back at Choi.

"Hmph, why should we have to leave? It's not like he can force us to."

"I think he's right though. Let's get back to our room and turn in. I want you and Uub well rested for tomorrow," Bulla said and Pan glanced back at her.

"Fine. Arugula, I gotta go. It was fun spending time with you," she told her and Arugula nodded happily with a huge smile on her face.

"Mister Bronto will carry on for you, Pan-Pan," she said and grabbed the stuffed dinosaur from the bed behind her and held it tight against her. Pan brought her in for another hug before she, Uub, and Bulla headed out of the room. She stopped for a moment and stared at Choi. He paused, swallowed and grinned at her.

"Don't disappoint me, Fanny-Panny. I'd hate to see you choke like that bowl-cut idiot earlier," he said and Bulla glared at him. Pan raised her arm to keep her at bay and she gave him a determined smile.

"I wonder what will end up broken first after our match tomorrow: your face, or your over-inflated ego after you get your butt handed to you by a girl?"

Choi's smile vanished as the three left the room and he went back to eating. He stared at the door for a bit longer before he focused solely on filling his belly with Lemo's cooking. Bok tucked Arugula in the other bed and he moved the table before he set up three capsules that popped out three more beds for himself, Choi, and Lemo.

Cheelai checked up on Choi and after a bit of a scolding for worrying her so much, and then wished him luck in his match tomorrow. She shared the other bed with Arugula while the bed Choi occupied was meant for Broly's large frame to sleep on. It wasn't long before the whole family turned in for the night.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 – "A vow of revenge! A look into Kelerot's past."**

 **An old familiar battleground…**

Goku and Kelerot appeared in a desolate area with several tall rock structures decorating the landscape. Kelerot walked around for a moment observing the area and a smile crossed his face.

"This was where Vegeta and I fought for the first time years ago. We sometimes find ourselves here whenever we decide to train together," Goku said, laying his hand on one of the rock structures. He could see the top of it where he stood for the first time facing Vegeta and he could visualize the memory in his head. He flew up to stand on that same spot and glanced down at Kelerot.

"Up here!" he shouted and Kelerot turned to his voice. He nodded and flew up to the spot where Vegeta had stood before and he knelt down on one knee, placing his hand on the rock's surface.

"This place holds a lot of sentimental value to you. I can feel the history of battle through the landscape," he said, closing his eyes and smiling. Goku looked impressed. He knelt down himself and could feel a tingly sensation come over him as he too felt the energy around him, breathing a sigh of satisfaction.

"Yeah, I can definitely feel it too," he said and Kelerot stood up again.

"You build up enough experience with combat that you get a feel for things like this. Now then, shall we begin?"

"Whenever you're ready," Goku said and clenched his fists. Kelerot closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He felt his power surging forth inside him and he raised his hands slightly, hovering them over the earth below and Goku could feel that as well.

A sudden burst of energy shot out from Kelerot and it almost blew Goku off the rock pillar. He had to steady himself and power up just to stay still and his eyes widened. _What an awesome power!_

Goku closed his eyes and began to focus his energy. Kelerot grinned as he felt a sharp increase in Goku's power and he nodded, anticipating the start of the fight. When Goku finished, a white aura appeared around him and he took up his fighting stance, an eager grin on his face.

"Your power, it has a nice feel to it," Kelerot said and took up the same fighting stance he had the other day.

"Yeah," Goku said, smiling as well. He and Kelerot both disappeared and reappeared with fists colliding against each other. The impact from Kelerot's fists pushed against Goku's defense and he was surprised at how sharp and how heavy each blow was. He moved around to gain an advantage to counterattack Kelerot but even those had been blocked. They flew around the landscape, using the terrain around them to bounce off the rocky pillars to continue their initial brawl and Kelerot began to increase his movement speed, tagging Goku with rapid jabs. Goku, feeling the push-back, decided to start taking it up a notch and let out a yell, focusing his power even more to transform directly to his Super Saiyan 2 form, electric sparks dancing around his body as his hair spiked up considerably and it looked more rigid to Kelerot as he stared at it for a moment.

Goku's movements were a lot faster, but Kelerot was able to keep up with them without a problem and he blocked more of Goku's blows as the hits were coming in faster this time.

"Surely this isn't your full power?" Kelerot asked.

"Not yet," Goku said and Kelerot caught his fist.

"It'd be easier for me if you did go all out, though," Kelerot said and let go. Goku flew back a moment and paused, staring at him.

"You really want to escalate this quickly?"

"Of course. I'm eager to see how strong you really are," Kelerot said and Goku landed on a rock pillar below him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, powering back down to his base form.

It had been a while since he last made use of his divine energy but he could still remember the feel and the control behind it. He relaxed his body and focused his energy inward and his aura changed from white to red. Kelerot felt a shift in Goku's power and his eyes widened out of intrigue as he saw Goku's power increase exponentially. He saw his hair and eyebrows change color from black to red and his muscular structure decrease to a leaner physique.

"Fascinating," Kelerot said, smiling.

"It's called Super Saiyan God," Goku said after he opened his eyes. He looked at his arms and hands and the feeling rushed back into him. He nodded and grinned. "I'm glad I could still do this since it's been a while."

"You were worried you had lost that ability?" Kelerot asked.

"Yeah," Goku nodded. "I spent so much time training Uub I started to worry I'd lose the ability to channel divine energy. Thankfully my body remembers these things quite well."

Kelerot smiled. "I assume it is the same for Vegeta and Broly?"

"For Vegeta, yes. But Broly never trained like we did. He's still got a ridiculous amount of power on his own that it made me think whether he might be as strong as Lord Beerus."

"Forgive me for asking this, but how strong is Beerus?" Kelerot asked. Goku paused, cocking an eyebrow.

"That's a good question, I never got to test him at his max power before," he said and Kelerot closed his eyes.

"I see," was all he said and he took up his fighting stance once more. Goku readied himself as well and Kelerot immediately went on the attack with a punch that Goku narrowly blocked with his forearm, otherwise he would've been knocked squarely in the head. Kelerot moved in such a way that Goku had to gamble on a forward attack to raise his arm fast enough to block it. _He's increased his speed dramatically._

Kelerot moved around lightly and nimbly, feinting his punches as Goku was able to block the real ones incoming, but his movements were still able to push Goku back. He tried to clear some distance between them but Kelerot was constantly in his face as he flew back, a determined look on his face. Goku went on the offensive this time and Kelerot began blocking all of Goku's shots with only his palm, grabbing his fist with nothing but a thumb and an index finger, locking it in place. He hit Goku's pressure points along his arms and shoulders with a few quick thrusts from his fingers and sent him flying back with a palm thrust to the chest. Goku regained his momentum and flipped back a few times to land on his feet, holding his chest. He looked at the spots Kelerot tagged him at and looked back with a bit of concern. _What did he just do to me?_

He began to feel his arms become heavier from the pressure points Kelerot hit and felt that he had to start pushing his power even higher. Clenching his fists, he let out a growl as he heightened the divine energy in his body. Kelerot was about to fly down to continue his attack but noticed that Goku was increasing his power and paused.

The pressure of changing to his next form looked obvious on Goku's face as his muscles grew bigger, back to their normal size. His hair began to change color again and his aura shifted from red to blue. He let out a scream that echoed across the landscape as his power burst outward. When the energy settled into his aura, Goku stood before Kelerot with his hair spiked upward again with a shade of blue that shimmered against the coming night as the moon shone overhead.

"This is Super Saiyan Blue, the Super Saiyan level of Super Saiyan God," he said, his breath calming itself down again. He grinned at Kelerot with a determined look and Kelerot nodded.

"Is this your highest power?" he asked.

"Technically, but I have ways of bringing it up even higher than that," Goku said.

"Fascinating," Kelerot said again with a grin and he landed in front of Goku. They had moved around back to the lower levels and were surrounded by the rock pillars. Goku went first and he disappeared in a high speed burst. Kelerot did the same and the two clashed fists against each other, levelling the terrain around them with each blow.

The two kept at it before Goku began feeling his movements slowing down a bit, if only for a moment and he gritted his teeth. _I should be much faster in Blue, yet I'm still really slow. Why?_

Goku could feel his punches missing Kelerot by a fraction as he dodged and redirected them away from him and tagged Goku in the face with a few jabs that knocked him back a moment. Goku felt desperation creep up in the back of his head and felt that he had to start using his Kaioken technique if he's ever going to match Kelerot blow for blow.

He nodded and paused, concentrating hard on his energy. He had to bring back the memories of when he needed to use his Kaioken technique and could easily push it to a tenfold multiplier without pushing his body too much. Twenty times was the threshold of his power but he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to that point after such a lengthy break of not using divine energy. He had to be sure he could still maintain control of his power and use Kaioken before he decided to increase the multiplier.

Kelerot felt an even greater shift of power in Goku as both red and blue auras were swirling around his body, as if one layer of a flame was burning above the other.

Grunting and growling, Goku felt his body tense up and could feel the surge of power again. He could also feel where Kelerot had hit him in his pressure points and focused his power to compensate for the increase in weight that made it feel like his arms were being pulled down to the earth by a giant magnet. He let out a scream as his power burst forth and erupted across the area, shaking the ground around him. The pillars of rocks were blown away as he screamed out once more and his aura flared a crimson red around his already impressive blue aura. When his focus reached its apex, he smiled, chuckling under his breath.

"Yeah, I still got it," he said and Kelerot cocked an eyebrow. He began to smile a bit more as his excitement grew. _This is getting good. Keep going higher, Goku, show me your power._

"This is what's called the Kaioken technique," Goku said and Kelerot's eyes widened a bit with fascination. He looked at Goku with awe and smiled.

"This power you're showing me, it's a wonderful sensation," Kelerot said and raised his arms into another fighting pose. He made a "come over here" motion with his hand.

Goku disappeared and with his sudden burst reappeared behind Kelerot to attack his blind spot. Kelerot was quick enough to catch Goku's fist and shift his body with a rapid high speed burst to sidestep and Goku kept up his attack. He was moving faster, his movements were sharper and more precise, and Kelerot was blocking far more often this time. He was so enthralled with this fight that he didn't care about his Delving technique at all. He felt good in this fight that he couldn't stop smiling as he was fighting Goku and the two moved in consecutive high speed bursts across the landscape, disappearing and reappearing. They launched a right hook at each other that connected, the shockwave of their fists colliding shaking the earth below and blowing away all the rock pillars and Kelerot stopped, glancing down. Goku noticed the same and Kelerot frowned a moment.

"Oh. It seems we destroyed your training grounds," he said and Goku laughed.

"Don't worry about it, there's plenty of places to train," Goku said and Kelerot nodded.

"Of course."

They went right back at it and Goku once again felt his movements beginning to feel heavy and sluggish and Kelerot used this moment to hit Goku hard in the gut and knock him down to the ground with a heavy chop to the face. He crashed hard into the ground and Kelerot landed a few feet away. He strolled over to where Goku had landed and saw that he went quite far into the ground. He focused his energy and lowered the gravity to the point where a lot of the debris and rocks floated up in the air and he gently nudged them aside as Goku floated up from the crevice. He was momentarily unconscious but he snapped back to it and shook his head. He glanced around and was surprised at what he saw. He tried to move but it was proving rather difficult. It felt like he was swimming but wasn't gaining any traction or movement and he began to panic a bit. Kelerot brought the gravity back to normal and Goku fell with the rocks back to the ground, crying out in pain for a moment, holding his head. He got back to his feet and looked around, confused.

"What was that? I couldn't move my body," he said and Kelerot stood with his hands behind his back.

"I reversed the gravity in the area to get you out of that pit I sent you to," he said and Goku's eyes lit up.

"Reversed the gravity? You can do that?"

Kelerot nodded. "I've been training to master all variations of gravity for years. You noticed your movements were slowing down as we were fighting, correct?"

Goku could still feel his arms as though heavy weights were added to them and tried to lift them up. He realized he needed to put in some effort to bring them up and his eyes widened.

"What did you do to my body?" Goku asked, worry in his voice. Kelerot walked over to him and tagged him quickly in the same pressure points that he hit him earlier and Goku grunted slightly from the impact, yet he felt his arms immediately get lighter as his movement returned to normal and he couldn't conceal the shock and excitement on his face.  
"Woah! That's an amazing ability!"

"Attacking pressure points with precise strikes was one of my Master Daikon's specialties. He was a genius fighter with an endless supply of wisdom. That and perfecting energy control to maximize your power at the right moment. I didn't start learning how to control gravity until I served time at the Galactic Prison."

He closed his eyes and frowned when those words left his mouth. He conjured a few balls of energy and set them floating around to provide light for the two and he sat down on a rock that had fell around the impact crater. Goku sat down on another rock a couple feet away and he could see the hurt and anger in Kelerot's face.

"So why did you kill all those people?" Goku asked.

"Perhaps its better if I explain from the beginning the events that led to my imprisonment," Kelerot said and he crossed his arms.

"The were-boars that I talked about earlier that attacked my people; we had another name for them: 'demons of Gardenia'."

He glanced up at the moon for a moment and grinned. "I haven't gazed upon a full moon in years. I forgot how beautiful they look."

"Yeah, it used to be a problem for us Saiyans a long time ago," Goku said. Kelerot raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"We used to have a tail, the Saiyans of this universe I mean. I don't know the whole details but whenever we looked at the full moon, our body goes through a huge transformation and we become giant apes. My memory's still fuzzy about all the times I transformed but as I got older I can sort of remember it vaguely. The first time it happened to me I accidentally killed my grandfather. I almost killed a lot of people at the World Martial Arts Tournament when I was a boy but thankfully my old master Roshi was there to stop me from going on a rampage."

Kelerot was a little taken back from this.

"I had no idea Saiyans from this universe had such primal features. You must look a bit like I do when you've transformed I assume?" he asked and Goku crossed his arms, getting a good look at Kelerot's facial features. He remembered back to his first fight with Vegeta and Vegeta's great ape form and a smirk appeared on his face.

"Yeah, there is a bit of a similarity but your face doesn't look that aggressive, not like Vegeta's was," he said and Kelerot instinctively looked at where Goku should've had a tail and noticed there wasn't any.

"Has something happened to make you lose your tails?" Kelerot asked.

Goku nodded. "I had mine removed for good. Vegeta's was cut off during our first fight, and Broly's must've had his removed as well back on Vampa from his dad. Gohan was born with one too but it too had to be removed for good. It's really hard for us to control ourselves when we're transformed but Vegeta was able to."

"I see," Kelerot said. He glanced up at the moon again. "The Full moon on Gardenia was a boon to our crops. The energy from the moon's light was absorbed into the vegetation and improved their growth. We often called it our Super Harvest. But on rare nights when we had a Full Moon, a different moon appeared. The Elders called it a Blood Moon."

"Yeah, you did mention that earlier. So what's with this blood moon?" Goku asked.

"It shone with a dark red glow that painted the skies and the lands crimson and the first time I witnessed it happen I was very little. I'll never forget the horrific screams the boars made after the Blood Moon appeared…"

 **Planet Gardenia, Universe 11, Age 748…**

 _My mother and I were waiting outside our home as we usually do for my father to come back from tending the fields. I was only four years old at the time, but I could still remember mother's beaming smile every time she saw him come back with a bag full of fresh pickings from the harvest that day. A lot of my friends' families eagerly welcomed the men from the fields with their harvest._

"Welcome home, just in time before the sun sets completely and the moon comes out," she said as Kelerot's father laid down two large bags in front of the house. Kelerot ran up to him and he was lifted into his father's arms.

"Guess how much I have in those bags," he asked and Kelerot shook his head.

"Papa, can we watch the moon come out?" Kelerot asked and his father nodded.

"It'll be a while before the moon shows up so why don't we eat first and then we'll watch the moon and stars all night. How about that?"

"Yay!" Kelerot shouted, raising his arms in the air.

 _As we ate that evening, we could gradually hear the pained cries of the creatures that had later attacked our village. I saw my father's face grow more worried. I never saw him look so scared before but the more the creatures howled in agony, the more unnerved he got._

"Papa, what's wrong?" Kelerot asked.

"Get Kelerot to the shelter under the house, hurry!" Kelerot's father yelled and his mother nodded quickly, grabbing Kelerot to pick him up.

"Mama, what's going on? Why's papa so scared? What's wrong with the boars outside? Are they in pain?" Kelerot was full of questions but his mother was too focused on getting him to safety that she was paying more attention to his father while holding him tight.

"Keep him safe, I'll secure the crops with the other farmers as quickly as possible. I only hope we lose a few this time," he said and ran out of the house. Kelerot could see other figures run out as well and the air began to feel different as an eerie red light was shimmering outside.

"Mama?" he said and Kelerot's mother covered his eyes, running down to the next room to uncover a trap door hidden underneath the carpet, unhooking it to open it up with her free hand.

"Don't look at the strange light, Kelerot. Stay calm and don't say another word, understand? Your father will be back shortly."

"Ok," Kelerot said.

 _Even through the closed trap door I could still hear them, the boars that became demonic creatures whose shrieks of pain and agony pierced my ears. They were filled with bloodlust, malice, and death._

 _We waited for hours as we listened helplessly to their shrieks for my father to come back, but he never did. We waited as long as we could until we both fell asleep and when we woke up the next morning, mother immediately went to search for him but it was far too late to do anything._

 _We lost over a dozen farmers that night, some brave enough to fight back with their tools. They managed to kill one of the were-boars but it looked like it had got the best of at least three of them in the melee. We searched far and wide for my father only to find him some distance away, only there wasn't much left of him as those things tore him apart. It was the first time I had ever seen death up close. I ran to the carcass of the dead creature and took out my anger on it. I don't know what came over me but I didn't react out of fear. Those things killed my father and I wanted them to suffer for it. Mother didn't know what to say and she watched in silence and grief as her son took his aggression out on a dead animal._

 _The elders of the village brought us all together and vowed that we must sacrifice our time and energy spent harvesting our seasonal crops to build walls strong enough to prevent those demons from attacking us should the blood moon ever show up again and the men who had miraculously survived began working on building and fortifying the village. Despite my small frame and my youth, I vowed to help them out, stubbornly refusing to be sent back home to stay with my mother. I wanted us to stay alive and be strong enough to fight back against those creatures but they kept saying the same thing over and over again._

"Kelerot, we can't fight them. You'd be torn to shreds like your father," said one of the survivors.

"They won't get away with it! They took papa away! They took papa away and I want him back!" Kelerot screamed, tears flowing down freely on his face as he wiped his nose, breathing heavily.

He walked over to a pile of farmer's tools and picked up a pitchfork that was considerably longer than his small frame could handle and almost fell back from the weight of it. He steadied it in front of him and almost hit several of the adults as he swung around with it. One of the elders grabbed the pitchfork and held it down as Kelerot tried to break free of the elder's grasp.

"Let go! I want to kill them!" Kelerot screamed, grunting as he pulled back hard but the elder's grip was stronger, holding it in place. He had a look of anguish as he saw the rage on this young boy's face and he shook his head, glancing at the others while they were working on assembling the barricade.

Kelerot pulled so hard that he lost his grip and fell back on his rear. He quickly stood back up and saw one of the boars that had transformed back into its more docile self and he glared at it.

"You! You killed papa! Give him back! Give back my papa!" Kelerot screamed as he charged at the boar, who reacted instinctively and panicked, running away while squealing and the elder sighed heavily, holding up the pitchfork.

"That boy's going to get himself killed if we don't calm him down," the elder said.

"Maybe we should kill those boars so they don't come back and transform again if another blood moon shows up," the survivor said and the elder shook his head.

"We're farmers, Qukes, we're not hunters. All we can do for now is keep this village safe until the next blood moon."

Qukes sighed in frustration. "Elder, we don't know when the next blood moon will show up. A month from now? A year? How much time do we have before another massacre hits us? What of the other villages? They must've suffered as much as we have!"

"Your concerns are noted and reasonable, Qukes," the elder said and signaled a couple of survivors.

"You, go and bring the boy back here. And you, make your way to the neighbouring village and spread the word about the boars. Tell them to prepare for the next blood moon. Meanwhile I'll convene with the council and begin to study this phenomenon that's affected our moon and figure out the cause of it."

The two volunteers nodded and rushed out of the village quickly.

 **Present day…**

"I never got very far outside the village before one of the adults brought me back, kicking and screaming," Kelerot said with a bit of a chuckle. Goku was mesmerized by Kelerot's story and had a bit of sadness as he stared at him.

"So you guys didn't have any way of fighting those creatures then?" he asked and Kelerot shook his head.

"I was fiercely determined as the days went by. I guess that was the first time my desire for fighting kicked in. I wanted to fight them, I wanted them all dead. I wanted revenge for my father.

"I begged the adults to see if anyone would teach me how to fight but none of them knew how. I set up some practice dummies at the back of my house and started whacking them with a stick I found on the ground, just hitting them as hard as I could. My mother was growing more worried about me as time went on and I wasn't eating as much. I grew obsessed with fighting that she put a stop to it. That was also the first time I ever hit someone and I still regret it to this day. It was also the first time grief finally hit home as I came to grips with the reality of my father's death…"

 **Age 750, Universe 11…**

 _The Elders did as much research as they could in the phenomenon of the blood moon but due to the rarity of the event they had nothing conclusive. All we could do for now was fortify the village with a barricade to keep the demons at bay and hope that it would be enough. We lacked the resources to build a large enough enclosure to keep both the crops and the villagers safe, so we had to make a sacrifice and keep ourselves alive long enough to replenish what had been lost should another blood moon occur. We had people from neighbouring tribes visit us to drop off slings, bows and arrows due to the increased activity of the twin-headed falcons and we were able to kill a few as they tried to attack us during construction._

 _That year was also the first time Master Daikon showed up on Gardenia._

There were several knocks heard at the main gate and one of the villagers looked to the elders in confusion.

"Are we expecting visitors from the neighbouring village, Parsnip?" Qukes asked and Parsnip, one of the Elders, shook his head.

"Trading Day isn't for another Fortnite. Go and see who it is and hope they're not hostile," Parsnip informed him and Qukes walked up to the front gate and opened up the window to look outside. Standing was a man in layered garb with a scruffy beard and long jet black hair with almond-shaped eyes, staring back at him.

"Can we help you?" Qukes asked.

"My ship crashed on this planet and I've found myself marooned. Your village is the first semblance of civilization I've noticed. Can you provide shelter while I make repairs?" the strange man asked and Qukes quickly shut the window.

He turned around and walked quickly to the Elder.

"He doesn't look like anyone I'm familiar with. He's not a Gardenian like any of us."

Parsnip looked perplexed but Qukes still maintained a determined face.

"Should we take him in, though? He's asking for shelter," Qukes asked.

"We shouldn't trust anyone who doesn't look like us. Let the neighbouring village deal with him," the Elder said and Qukes frowned. He quickly walked back to the gate and opened the window.

"Sorry friend, the Elder isn't keen on allowing strange visitors from outside our planet. You'll have to seek out the next village which is due south of here," Qukes stated and the stranger's eyes widened as he took a closer look at Qukes.

"Pardon me for asking, but are you all Saiyans by any chance?" he asked and Qukes eyed him curiously.

"Saiyans? We're not familiar with that word. You're on a planet called Gardenia. Your reaction seems to indicate that you're familiar with us?"

"Of course I'm familiar. Gardenia, Qukes, those sound awfully like Saiyan names to me. I just so happen to be of the same species, even though my appearance is different from yours. My name is Daikon," the stranger said and Qukes looked back, slightly disgusted by what he heard.

"You want to make jokes, now? You look nothing like us and I don't appreciate being mocked like this. Get lost."

Qukes slammed the window shut and Daikon sighed, turning around. Qukes peeked through the window to see where Daikon was headed and saw that he was setting up camp near a forested area to the west of the village.

"Tch, that damn fool's going to get himself slaughtered by the demons should the next blood moon show up," Qukes muttered to himself as he walked away from the gate. He gasped in surprise when he saw Kelerot standing a few feet away.

"Kelerot! Don't scare me like that. What do you want?" Qukes asked.

"Who was that you were talking to?" Kelerot asked.

"It's none of your concern. You and your mother need to get your tools ready for the harvest. We'll need to get to the nearest field as quickly as possible before nightfall, the Elders are predicting a full moon tonight. We pray that it's not going to be a blood moon."

"If it is a blood moon, I'll make sure mother and the others stay safe," Kelerot said and Qukes shook his head, leading him back to his house.

"You're not strong enough to handle the boars when they mutate, Kelerot. Be smart and stay out of danger. Your mother wouldn't be able to cope losing another loved one."

"I'm not a coward, Qukes! I've been practicing using our tools as weapons to fight them back. I'll see to it they die before we do."

Qukes sighed heavily, staring at Kelerot. "Foolish boy," he muttered under his breath and walked away.

 _We worked as fast as possible before nightfall to gather the crops. We managed to load one field's worth onto the cart before the moon came out but we were still quite a distance away from the village. The elders who volunteered to help pushed the carts as quickly as possible but then we started hearing those same horrible cries from the demons like last time. The day we dreaded had come again and we saw the blood moon rise up over the horizon._

 _I saw the transformation happen before my very eyes this time. For a moment I felt sorry for those creatures and the pain they had to endure as they changed. Their eyes looked like they were crying for help until they started crying tears of blood as their bodies changed and grew. An extra pair of legs grew out from their sides and both their teeth and claws doubled in size. They shrieked with cries of bloodlust that resonated across the area as they stampeded all around us. There was no method to their attack, no pattern. They rampaged wildly and attacked anything that moved in front of them._

 _I grabbed a tool to defend the group but mother grabbed me and made a run for it. I screamed in protest, wanting to fight them off but she wouldn't listen. Next thing we knew one of them tackled us to the ground._

"Mama!" Kelerot cried out. She grunted as she tried to get back up but screamed as she felt the pain surge through her leg. One of their hooves had trampled over her leg as it ran them over and she looked around in a panic.

"Just stay close to me, I'll keep you safe," she told Kelerot and he was trying to squirm out of her grasp.

"I'm getting us out of here, mama," Kelerot said and began to stand up, helping his mother to her one good leg.

"We'll take shelter in the trees, out of sight," Kelerot said, heading in the direction of a wooded area that looked dark enough to conceal themselves. It didn't seem as though these demons were attacking anyone specifically, only that he saw a few other Gardenians get trampled underneath them and one was torn in half from two of them pulling at him from opposite ends with their powerful jaws. Kelerot's face froze and went pale at the sight and had to pick up the pace if he was going to make it.

He didn't notice one of the tools the elders had dropped earlier and caught his foot against the shaft of it, tripping him up. He fell with his mother on top of him, the two crying out as they fell forward. It was at the same time that one of the demons screeched as it turned to rush in their direction.

"Kelerot, run!" she cried out to him but Kelerot couldn't move.

"I can't get free!" he yelled and she tried to move off of him but gasped when she felt something hard jab itself through her back. Kelerot's eyes looked on in horror as he saw one of those large tusks skewering his mother through her back. She looked down at him with tear stricken eyes and blood coming out of her mouth, caressing his face with her hand. It felt like time had slowed down considerably in that one moment as Kelerot saw the life fade away from his mother's eyes. The demon kept moving onward with his mother still impaled on his tusk and he screamed in fury and agony at the creature.

He grabbed the tool on the ground and ran as fast as he could to pursue the creature, who had gained a considerable amount of distance away from him. It shook its head vigorously to throw its victim off and Kelerot saw his mother fly off the tusk several feet to the side. But he was so focused on the creature that he continued charging forward, hoping to catch it off guard before it noticed him.

He was too consumed in his rage that he failed to notice another boar charging in his direction from the side. Kelerot was still screaming as he sprinted forward and when he caught up to the demon, he impaled it with the end of the tool, what looked like a mix between a shovel and a hoe. The creature screamed from the impact but it ran off with the tool still embedded in its side.

"Come back! Fight me!" he screamed and from the corner of his eye he saw the other demon stampeding towards him and his face grew pale, his eyes widening in horror.

Daikon appeared in front of him and fired some strange beam of light at the creature from his hands. Next thing Kelerot noticed when the light faded was that the creature was no longer there. Daikon moved around at such speed that he looked like a blur. He disappeared and reappeared, taking out a few other demons in the process with physical attacks that baffled Kelerot. He had never seen anything like it before.

The remaining creatures scurried off elsewhere, moving their chaos to a different area of the planet. Daikon stood still, observing their movements and taking a few deep breaths. Kelerot stared at him in disbelief but caught sight of his mother's body lying face first in the ground a few feet away and he ran off to her.

He rolled her over onto her back and saw the lifeless gaze in her eyes. He buried his face into her blood-soaked chest and wailed, holding her tightly. Daikon calmly walked over to him and sighed, frowning. He knelt down and looked at the woman's face for a moment.

"I'm sorry, kid," he said, putting a hand on Kelerot's back. Kelerot gasped in shock and turned around to face him.

"Y-you killed those demons," he muttered.

"Yes I did. I've never seen anything like that before and before I knew it, those things were rampaging all over the place," he said and Kelerot stared at him, his face getting angrier.

"Why didn't you help us?! Why didn't you kill those things before they attacked us?! Why didn't you save my mother?!" he said, trying to fight him, but all he was doing was flailing his arms, batting his fists at him. He grabbed Kelerot's hands, holding them in place. Kelerot screamed and grunted, trying to free himself but Daikon's iron-like gaze froze Kelerot in place.

"Your punches are too weak to do anything, boy. You let your anger get the best of you and where does that lead you? You'd be just as dead as she is," he said, nodding to Kelerot's mother.

The few remaining survivors ran up to Daikon and some winced at seeing Kelerot's mother lying dead on the field. One of the elders walked over to him and signaled the others to join up with him.

"Get Kelerot back to the village, quickly. We can't waste time not knowing when those demons will come back," he said and one of the farmers picked up Kelerot's mother in his arms and carried her back.

"Go with him, Kelerot, that's an order," the elder said and Kelerot stared back at him, glaring furiously.

"GO!" the elder commanded and Kelerot broke off into a run back to the village. The elder sighed and stared at Kelerot with a saddened look on his face.

"Another one of our children orphaned at such a young age," he said, sounding incredibly tired and Daikon watched Kelerot run back before he glanced up at the eerie crimson skies. He looked around him at the surviving Gardenians and turned to the Elder.

"Where are your warriors? Where are those who are supposed to protect your village from those things?" he asked and the elder looked away in disgust. He glanced back at the figure.

"We're nothing but simple farmers, stranger. You won't find people like you on Gardenia, I'm afraid. We till the lands, grow our crops, and eat as much as we can to fill our large appetites. We're at the mercy of the creatures who live among us and we're lucky we make it throughout the day without a single casualty."

"But you're more than mere Gardenians. You're Saiyans like me!" the figure yelled. "Fighting is a natural instinct borne in each of us, no matter what we look like on the outside! That boy should've been able to fight them off at his age without difficulty, or at the very least your most able-bodied should've killed those things the moment you saw them!"

The elder stared back at him. "Look stranger, whatever crazy idea you have of us being fighters is asinine. We don't have the time to learn how to fight; we need as much time as we can to regrow what we have lost. You've seen firsthand what kind of destruction those things are capable of. We lost months worth of food that we need to survive. And don't get me started on those falcons that live up on the mountains north of here."

The figure had a stunned look on his face as he stared at the elder. He began to walk away to join up with the other farmers on their way back to the village.

"Wait," the figure said. The elder turned around as he joined up with him.

"Let me teach you how to fight. It's the least I can do to help. I don't want to see any more kids lose their parents because they lacked the knowledge to defend themselves. At least that boy has determination but lacks discipline."

"I appreciate the offer but like I said, we don't have that kind of time. We must tend to the injured and gather inventory of what we had lost and what we managed to harvest today," the elder said and Daikon stepped in front of him, fist to his chest.

"Then I will protect your village until your people are capable of fighting on their own. I insist on teaching them how to fight. I have a distinct feeling that you will grow stronger in no time."

The elder paused for a moment and stared ahead at the farmers, some carrying dead bodies back with them, some holding each other up due to injuries they suffered and he sighed.

"Let me confer with the other elders on this matter. We'll reach a decision by tomorrow's eve. You're welcome to stay at our village until then. My name's Parsnip."

"Daikon," the figure responded. Parsnip narrowed his eyes.

"Are you certain you and I are of the same species? I've never seen a hairless creature bear a Gardenian name," Parsnip said.

"I travel far and wide to impart the fighting knowledge of the Saiyan race. It must be fate that I marooned myself on a planet whose inhabitants are Saiyans like myself. It would be my honor to bestow this gift unto your people."

"A visitor from another world," Parsnip said as he eyed him cautiously. Daikon followed him back as the two made their way to the front gate entrance.

"I don't fault you for being cautious about visitors. My home world seldom has outsiders either," Daikon said.

"So there are other worlds like ours? More of those 'Saiyan' civilizations?" Parsnip asked.

"I'd be lying if I said you're the only ones out there," Daikon said with a smile. "But it's a lot more complex than you'd realize. For now, I think the matter of helping your villagers out takes priority. I hope you'll allow me to teach your people the art of combat and how to manipulate and control energy."

Daikon channeled energy into a ball that he floated above his hand and Parsnip stared at it with his mouth wide open.

"By the gods, how is this possible?" he asked, reaching out to touch it but felt the heat come out of the ball and retracted his hand.

"You conjured light out of your hand with such ease," Parsnip said and Daikon chuckled a bit.

"Anyone can do this if they train hard enough. If you let me teach you and your people, you'll eventually do this as well," Daikon said and cancelled the ball, the light fading away.

 _That was how Daikon came to live with us from that day on. The farmers were eager to learn how to fight under Master Daikon's tutelage, but when it came to me, he refused._

"You won't teach me? Why?" Kelerot asked and Daikon stared down at him.

"Because you're not ready, boy."

"I am ready! I'm ready to fight and protect the village from those demons when the next blood moon comes out," Kelerot cried out but Daikon simply turned around and walked away to lead the other villagers to an open area so he can begin training them.

"Teach me to fight!" Kelerot pleaded.

"Not until you're older, kid. You're not ready," Daikon repeated and ignored him as he walked onward.

Kelerot growled and went to throw a punch but Daikon caught it without looking, catching Kelerot's fist in his hand. He sighed and let go. Kelerot stood there, tears streaming down his red face and he balled his fists so tightly that he was drawing blood from his nails digging into his skin.

"He clearly wants you to train him," elder Parsnip chimed in but Daikon raised his hand, shaking his head.

"Until he understands the true purpose of fighting, he isn't ready. Give him a few years to grow and mature and maybe he'll understand. For now he needs someone to look after him."

Parsnip nodded and walked over to Kelerot.

"Come, we'll get you settled in with Qukes. He's agreed to look after you and the other children provided you help him with the chores and crops."

"I want my house," Kelerot said, staring up at him.

"You're not old enough to look after yourself. I understand the turmoil you're going through; we all are. What you need right now is someone to take care of you. You need time to calm down and mourn."

"NO! I need to fight back! I need them to pay for what they did to us!" he yelled and darted off in a dash to the outside of the village.

"Kelerot!" Parsnip cried out. Kelerot had already gained some distance from the village before Daikon approached him.

"Let him go. He'll have to learn the hard way if he intends on fighting back. He isn't doing himself any good if he's pushing people away."

"You sound as if you've had experience in this matter, Daikon," Parsnip said and Daikon nodded.

"My purpose is to provide the tools and knowledge necessary for your people to survive and work together. However I can't help those who aren't willing to understand themselves."

Kelerot kept running until he reached the field where dried blood had caked the grass and soil and he stared at it for a moment. He saw one of the boars who had changed back and he charged after it. The creature panicked and began running away.

"You killed them! You killed them all! Come back here and die!" Kelerot screamed and he ran as fast as his small legs could take him but he wasn't gaining any distance on the creature and he found himself out of breath.

He collapsed on his hands and knees and began pounding the dirt, screaming in anger and anguish. The creature that had run off slowed down and turned around, sniffing the air and the ground around it. It dug up a truffle that was in the soil and walked over to Kelerot holding it between its teeth. It dropped the truffle in front of him and quietly grunted. It walked over to his side and nuzzled him.

Kelerot jerked away in surprise and glared at the creature, who gave him a sad, pleading look. He couldn't understand what this creature wanted, but he lunged at it and began hitting it with his fists, which didn't do a whole lot except make the creature grunt in response. It moved away from Kelerot's flailing fists and nudged him again.

"Stop it! Let me kill you!" he yelled and the creature nudged the truffle towards him again. Kelerot couldn't understand what this creature wanted but he picked up the truffle regardless. The creature grunted again and quickly ran off towards where he had dug it off and looked back at Kelerot.

"What do you want from me?!" Kelerot yelled, glaring at the creature. It grunted and began digging up another truffle from the ground and nudged it towards him. Kelerot walked over to the soil and the creature continued digging up truffles, which surprised him.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" he asked. The creature then moved over to the trees and bumped it a couple of times with his thick skull. The tree branches shook and several fruit dropped from above, almost hitting Kelerot on their way down. He moved out of the way and stared at the creature as it seemed to enjoy giving him food items.

Kelerot looked down at the fruit, which had an orange-yellow color to them. He picked one up and noticed how smooth it felt. The creature ate one of the fruits on the ground and Kelerot could catch a whiff of the juice inside and he smelled the sweetness of it wafting through his nose. This in turn made his stomach growl and he started to care less about his anger and instead took a bite out of the fruit and his eyes widened at how delicious it tasted. He ate one fruit after another until he had consumed nearly all of what had fell from the branches and he sat down on the ground.

The creature was still lingering around, watching him eat the harvest he uncovered for him and Kelerot eyed him cautiously.

"Why are you helping me? You killed my people. I lost my mother and father because of you," Kelerot said and the creature walked over to him, lying down in front of him. Kelerot reached up with a fist, ready to punch at it again, but couldn't bring himself to do it. The creature rolled over onto its back and left is belly wide open for him. Kelerot was shocked at this sight and carefully lowered his hand down to the creature's stomach and instinctively began petting it. He didn't understand why he was doing it, only this felt like something he needed to do at the moment. The creature squealed happily and Kelerot actually began to grin for the first time in a while. He closed his eyes and then began to remember last night's details more accurately. One thing that stuck out the most were the cries they made when they stared at the blood moon. Remembering them more clearly, those were screams of creatures terrified of what they were becoming.

His eyes opened wide and he stood up. "I have an idea!"

He ran as fast as he could and the creature was following beside him, but he stopped.

"Don't follow me, you'll only cause trouble. Stay here."

The creature obliged and trotted back to the truffle garden he had discovered, digging up more trinkets out of the ground.

Kelerot had made it back to the village and ran over to elder Parsnip, who was in the middle of learning how to fight with Daikon.

"Elder Parsnip, I think I know what's wrong with the demons!" Kelerot shouted. The group stopped and Daikon paused.

"Have you calmed down for once, lad?" Parsnip said as he approached him.

"Get everyone here, I discovered something!" Kelerot cried out. Parsnip looked to Daikon who grinned and nodded, motioning him to continue onward to help Kelerot.

When the surviving farmers and villagers gathered together, Qukes helped Kelerot sit on his shoulders to give him enough height to see everyone.

"What did you discover?" Parsnip asked.

"I think they didn't mean to attack us," Kelerot said and the other villagers looked at each other, some in confusion at Kelerot.

"But how do you know that? You wanted them dead and we'd be willing to help hunt them down if it meant preventing them from changing again when the next blood moon comes out," said one of the farmers.

"Why the sudden change? They killed your mother and father. A lot of the kids lost their parents from this and I don't blame you for wanting them dead. I think we can live a safer life without those demons running around," said another and Kelerot nodded, frowning.

"I know. But when one of them gave me fruit from the trees, I think it was telling me it regretted losing control," Kelerot said and Daikon stared at the group with his arms crossed.

"They are still wild animals, don't forget that," he said and Kelerot turned his head. Qukes set him back down on the ground and Daikon approached him.

"If I teach you all to fight back, how will you make use of these skills? I cannot foresee teaching this village if their intention is to hunt those creatures to extinction. If what you say is true, they are more afraid of you than you are of them. I see a lot of potential in you, boy. You've adapted quickly to the reality of the situation without giving in to your anger, yet I still sense some reservation in you. How can I be sure that you are ready to receive my instruction in the art of fighting and survival?"

Kelerot stared up at him and wanted to say something but looked away. "I, I don't know."

"An honest answer I can accept. You're still in a fragile state of emotion. This sudden discovery hasn't given you the time to mourn your loss."

Daikon's words stung when Kelerot heard them and he immediately turned his gaze over to the body of his mother. Her face looked peaceful, even though it was still stained with her blood, and Kelerot hadn't fully cleaned her blood off his face either. He couldn't hold back the fresh set of tears that came down on his face and Daikon put a hand on the boy's head.

"Tell you what, if you can pass this test I'm giving you, I will teach you everything I know about how to fight and how to make the most out of your physiology. There is a lot about yourselves you don't quite know yet and I will help bring that out of all of you."

"What must I do?" Kelerot asked.

"Befriend the creature that killed your mother," Daikon said, which surprised Kelerot. "If you truly believe that her death was unintentional and a result of something beyond anyone's control, then you will look past your anger and prejudice and accept that what happened was no one's fault. Accept that these deaths were blameless and grow from this experience."

Kelerot's eyes widened as he looked at Daikon nervously.

"I, I don't know if I can," he said and Daikon smiled.

"You can, just believe in your potential, believe in your determination," he said and walked back to the training grounds. The villagers that had joined him earlier regrouped in front of him to resume their training and Kelerot sighed, staring at him. Qukes put a hand on his shoulder.

"Go wash up. We'll set up the pyres after sundown," he said and Kelerot nodded quietly.

When the pyres burned the bodies, the adult Saiyans who watched the flames burn quietly hummed a funeral dirge while some of the women mourned and wailed. Kelerot was quiet the whole time, staring at the burning body of his mother on the far left pyre. Daikon watched in fascination at the whole process, intrigued by how different this version of the Saiyan race conducted funeral rites and seemed to celebrate their dead passing on. He casually walked away to his camping area he set up the night before and sat down by an open flame he built himself with a small amount of energy he channeled. He watched the villagers eventually retire to their homes and looked on in sadness at some of the now empty houses that once had families inhabit them. He wondered what was going to be done with those but ignored it as he lay down to sleep the night.

The following day, Kelerot set out to find the creature. He had one of the adults accompany him to make sure he'd avoid getting into any trouble, and some of the other orphaned kids decided to tag along. The youngest was a boy named Spinac, who had taken a liking to Kelerot since he too lost his mother the same night. There were other orphaned boys and one orphaned girl as well, a girl about a year younger than Kelerot named Perilla. The other boys were Gourd and Renkon.

Perilla liked Kelerot a lot but she wouldn't admit to it. She was jealous of the fact he still had his family after hers was taken from her during the previous blood moon. She'd often tease him for being too attached to his mother but Kelerot ignored it for the most part. However when she saw that his mother's dead body was carried home in the arms of one of the adult farmers, her heart sank and she wanted to comfort him, yet was a bit scared of the amount of anger he was displaying.

Qukes stopped when he could see in the distance a herd of those creatures and held his arms out to stop the group of children.

"I can see several of them up ahead. Stay low," he said and crouched down in the grass. They had reached an unplowed area of the open fields pass the ones they had tilled to plant their crops. The tall grass, at least tall enough for the children to hide well, provided some concealment for Qukes as he stared at the herd.

"Those look like the creatures from the other night," he said and Kelerot scanned the herd, wondering if he saw the one that dug up truffles and brought him fruit the day before. It was hard to distinguish one from the other, but he could see that one of them still had a significant injury from when he drove the tip of the farming tool into its side. The blood looked like it had dried up but it was still very noticeable as the creature was digging up something from the ground and eating the grass around it. It pulled up and ate a bunch of roots and Kelerot felt his heart sink.

His body began to tense up and both Gourd and Spinac turned to look at him, then glanced at Qukes.

"Is that the demons that killed the grown-ups?" Gourd asked and Qukes shook his head.

"I can't say for sure. Kelerot, what do you think?"

"One of them is from the night my mother died, it's the one that I attacked with the farming hoe," he said and looked ready to charge forth. Perilla glanced at him.

"Don't go making an idiot of yourself and running off, you'll scare them away," she said.

"Can't we just call them over or something?" Spinac chimed in and Qukes pursed his lips, glancing down at him.

"If we cause a lot of noise, that's guaranteed to scare them off. If we approach them carefully, they might not see us as a threat. But I will take point. You all stay close behind me. Let's hope they won't start stampeding again."

Qukes slowly stood back up on his feet and the children did the same. "Let's go."

Spinac and Renkon stayed together, while Gourd and Perilla were close behind. Kelerot was immediately behind Qukes leading the children and they began walking slowly towards the herd. As they drew closer, the herd started walking away, as though by instinct and Qukes raised his hands in the air.

"Please wait, we don't want to hurt you," he told the creatures and they slowed down. He glanced down at the children.

"I think they can understand us," he said and Kelerot walked over beside him. He stared at the injured one and clenched his fists, feeling his heart beating faster.

"Easy Kelerot, they might pick up on your anger," he said and Kelerot tried to relax his fists. Qukes had with him a bag full of some of the crops they managed to harvest before they were attacked and he pulled out a large sized vegetable, shaped like a turnip. He tossed it in front of him and it landed a few feet between Qukes's group and the herd. One of the creatures walked over to the plant and sniffed at it. It then began to take a bite out it and sat down to eat it whole. Qukes breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out other vegetables, handing each one to the children.

"Here, take this to that injured one and let it eat," he said to Kelerot, handing him a plant shaped like a parsnip. Kelerot took the plant with a slightly shaking hand and walked slowly forward.

The other children, were all handed plants to feed the herd and they each approached a different creature. Perilla was the first to quickly gain the creature's trust as she pet its head while it ate the plant from her hand. Gourd, Spinac and Renkon eventually were able to get the creatures to feed from them as well, though they had to put their plants on the ground in front of them first. They got to pet them as well.

Kelerot simply stared at the injured creature and gripped his plant tightly in his hand. He still felt his anger rise and the creature backed away a couple steps, sensing his hostility. It didn't seem to care much for the other creatures trusting the group but instead grunted a shrill whine as it looked away from his glare.

The children began to notice and they all waited in anticipation to see how Kelerot would handle the situation. Perilla wanted to help, but Qukes shook his head. She scoffed and crossed her arms, glancing occasionally at Kelerot to see if he was going to feed the creature or not. She caught sight of another creature coming in from the forested area and it approached the injured one and Kelerot and she grew a bit concerned.

"Kelerot, there's another one coming!" she said suddenly and was worried she spoke too loudly, which made the injured one wince from the noise and almost run away. Kelerot could see the other one coming his way and noticed that it resembled the one who dug up those truffles earlier and he felt his body relax a bit. The creature walked up to him and casually took the plant out of his hand, bringing it over to the injured one. It let it drop from its jaws in front of the injured one and grunted at it. The injured one grunted in return and Kelerot could tell that they seemed to be communicating with each other. Perilla seemed the most fascinated of the group as she saw the creature help out the injured one and it walked back to Kelerot, taking his wrist in its jaws.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Kelerot asked, and the creature led him over to the injured one. Qukes was a bit surprised watching this unfold and he gazed at them quizzically.

"It seems they have some degree of intelligence to them. If I didn't know any better I swear this one can tell there's tension between Kelerot and that injured creature and wants them to bond."

Kelerot stopped before the injured one as it was still eating and his hand was led up to the top of its head by the less timid creature. It let go of Kelerot's wrist and he rested his hand on top of the creature's head. He paused for a moment, feeling the apprehension rise up within him again and he stared at the creature that led him here. He jerked his hand away and turned around.

"I, I can't, I'm sorry," he said and began to run. The creature grunted sadly and looked up pleadingly at the other children as Kelerot bolted past them. Perilla approached the two creatures and spotted the gaping wound that was still fresh on the side of the one eating the plant and stared at it with a saddened expression.

"Poor things, the pain you must be going through," she said as she glanced back at Kelerot. She stared at him with a frown and began to run after him. She was slightly faster than he was and caught up to him, tackling him down. He spun around to go away but she pinned him down by the shoulders.

"Stop being such a dummy-head and pet it!" she yelled and Kelerot scoffed, looking away. She grabbed him by his robes and began shaking him.

"It's not their fault! They don't want to kill us! Why can't you see that?!" she said and she began to cry.

"Perilla," Kelerot said, stunned at the emotional outburst.

"Idiot! Idiot!" Perilla cried out, her hands shaking. She pulled him up and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"I won't forgive you if you attack those creatures! I won't, you hear me?!" she cried and Kelerot couldn't figure out what to do. He was left speechless and he looked up at Qukes to find out what to do and Qukes didn't say anything. Perilla kept holding onto him and Kelerot eventually put his arms around her.

"Your mama would've been very upset if she saw you like this," she said and Kelerot frowned. She broke free of the hug and stood up, pulling him to his feet in the process. She put her hands on his shoulders and stared him in the eyes.

"I hated that you still had a mama to take care of you. I hated that I could still see how happy she was to take care of you that I was afraid to ask her to take care of me too. I didn't want to take her away from you out of jealousy."

"Perilla…I'm sorry," Kelerot said and Perilla punched him in the shoulder as she often has in the past, something Kelerot had been used to and he winced from the impact, holding his left shoulder.

"Ow."

"I don't want you to be angry and do something stupid. Now go pet the creature," she said and grabbed Kelerot by the hand, dragging him back to the others. Kelerot stopped and jerked his hand free. She glared at him but noticed that he was grinning again.

"I, I can do this," he said and swallowed, approaching the injured creature again, who had finished eating the plant. Kelerot was hesitant at first, but then eventually put his hand on the creature's head and began to pet it. The other children gathered near him and gave him some encouragement as Kelerot smiled a bit more. Perilla gently punched him in the shoulder again, giving him an encouraging smirk.

 **Present day…**

"Daikon trained us every day. Perilla and I quickly became the best students, surprising the adults at how much we learned, but Master Daikon wasn't without his harshness. As nice as he was outside of training, he was severe and didn't abide cowardice and emotional outbursts. He wanted to test me to make sure that I could steel my emotions, otherwise they'd put me at a disadvantage. I had Perilla to thank for helping me out as well and we'd spar often. Chard, the youngest of us orphans, eventually grew old enough to join us in the lessons. He was a very slow learner but Daikon always said how often slow learners have the most potential to be the best fighters if pushed in the right direction."

The energy balls that Kelerot conjured up as sources of light faded away and he could see the stars shine brightly in the sky. There was no other source of light for miles and seeing the night sky so clearly made him feel nostalgic. Even Goku was fascinated by the night sky as he stared up.

"You know I once saw a sky just like that years ago with my Grandpa Gohan," Goku said, standing up to stretch his arms and legs. Kelerot cocked an eyebrow for a moment.

"Grandpa Gohan?"

"The first person to find me when I landed on Earth as a baby," Goku said. "I named my son after him. He was one of the first people to teach me martial arts before I met Master Roshi."

"It must be an interesting experience having more than one teacher," Kelerot said and Goku crossed his arms, grinning.

"Yeah. I had a lot of teachers over the years. Roshi, King Kai, Mr. Popo, Whis. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for them."

Kelerot closed his eyes, sighing. "I've only ever had the one, but I will always be grateful to him for being in my life."

"So how does all this lead up to you being in prison, then? I can't think of how you would've gotten in trouble with the Pride Troopers," Goku said and Kelerot had a sad smile on his face from what Goku could notice. He conjured up another energy ball and let it float in between the two. The illumination shaded part of their faces as they looked at each other.

"I'm about to get to that part."

Kelerot paced slowly back and forth in front of the energy ball, hands behind his back.

"Daikon would occasionally warn us about the dangers outside of Gardenia because I began to grow curious about what was out there. Seeing someone that looked different than us sparked my interest and I wanted to know as much as possible from Daikon where he came from and what other planets were out there. But every time I asked, he'd change the subject or tell us to get back to our exercises when we weren't working the fields.

"The next blood moon did come and we were prepared this time. We held off the boars who mutated into the demons from the last time and I was able to kill one of them when it almost got to Chard. I felt a great deal of regret but Daikon reassured us of one of our first lessons about survival. It's a kill or be killed world out there beyond the safety of the village and we have to remember that. As much as we want to care for those creatures, we can't show signs of weakness or hesitation when they lose control. Killing them in self-defence was a merciful act and I think they understood that. The more we understood each other, the more we understood the cycle of life on Gardenia. We felt proud of our growth and accepted the Saiyan name as a part of our race as well to honor Daikon.

"One day, Saiyans from the neighbouring village to the south of ours paid us a visit and told us of visitors who came to Gardenia the other day. That was the first time I heard the name Pride Troopers being uttered. They said there were Pride Troopers paying us a visit because they intercepted a signal from an unknown device that entered their galaxy and wanted to investigate, having traced it to Gardenia."

 **Planet Gardenia, Age 772…**

 _The blood moon phenomenon that occurred on Gardenia didn't have a distinct pattern to it after much research. There was a two year gap from the first blood moon, which happened shortly after Daikon's arrival, but the one afterwards didn't show up for another four years. Sometimes we'd see small gaps of two to three months, sometimes a lengthy gap of three to four years._

 _Six years had passed since we last saw a blood moon and I haven't seen one since I left Gardenia. Prior to the day I left Gardenia, I discovered the ship that Daikon crashed on the planet with and I brought it to him._

"Master Daikon, I found this while on an expedition with a farming team to survey a new field to grow a forest," Kelerot said and Daikon sighed, frowning.

He pursed his lips and walked over to the wrecked craft, putting his hand on it. It felt rough to the touch, its smooth surface long since abandoned to rust and grime.

"I figured this was going to come up sooner or later, Kelerot," Daikon said, glancing at him with a small grin on his face.

"There've been rumblings of one of the villages in the south cooperating with the Pride Troopers to build ships to launch off the planet so we can enter the Galactic Trade Market and become official members of the Galactic Democracy."

 _When Daikon was cleared of any wrongdoing, the Pride Troopers helped ease our curiosity about the universe that lay outside of Gardenia. They educated us at length about their cause, their sense of Justice, and that they answered to Toppo and Belmod the Destroyer. They taught us about the Galactic Democratic Federation and that if we do our due diligence and uphold the laws of the Federation, we can gain membership status and enter the Galactic Trade with other planets and increase our ability to grow crops and usher in a new era of peace between worlds. They grew very fond of our farming capabilities and were intrigued by how dedicated we were, not only to farming, but also to combat._

 _When we completed our first ship, I eagerly volunteered to take part in our first galactic mission, loading our best crops onto our cargo hold and join up with our team. The Troopers helped ease us into training with their equipment and technology and we were ready within two years. I begged Perilla to come with me but she hated the idea of moving away from her village._

"Don't you want to see Gardenia from way up there?" Kelerot asked and Perilla scoffed with a laugh.

"I can see Gardenia fairly well when I fly up in the sky, dummy," she told him and took to the air. Kelerot followed her and she took off in a burst of speed, forcing him into a race with her. He smiled, knowing how good she was at her speed and channeled a burst of energy to propel him forward and blow past her. She grinned and the two raced around the planet, circling around it a couple of times before they stopped and stared down at South Village's launch pad. She stared at it with a grim look on her face.

"You're not really going in that, are you?" she asked and Kelerot stared down at the ship with a beaming look of pride and confidence.

"I dreamed a long time ago of flying among the stars in the sky and seeing what lied beyond this world. Now that dream can become a reality thanks to the Pride Troopers."

His body shook in surprise when he felt Perilla's hand grab his and bring it up to clasp it with her other hand.

"Promise me you'll come back?" she said with a serious expression and Kelerot chuckled a bit.

"I'm being serious, dummy!" Perilla yelled and Kelerot nodded.

"I know you're serious about this. You're serious way too often," he said.

"Then make your promise," she said and he nodded again.

"I promise. I'll only be gone at most a month before we come back, hopefully with good news."

She quickly flew over to him and gave him a kiss before turning around to quickly head back to their village. Kelerot was taken by surprise from this and felt his lips. Her lips felt soft when she kissed him and he couldn't help but blush a bit from the sensation and grinned as he watched her leave his line of sight.

 _We were gone for three months, unfortunately. When we were escorted by the Pride Troopers to an outlying world near our system, we were shocked to see how devastated it had been due to horrible weather conditions. It reminded me a lot of the blood moon and how often the creatures attacked our crops. We assessed the situation and devised a plan to help build protective shelters so they can grow vegetation and harvest food safely without succumbing to the radical climate. The people were eternally grateful for our help and it left an impression on the Pride Troopers when we completed our work and headed back home to Gardenia._

 _Perilla was as upset as I expected her to be when she saw me return after I promised her I'd be back within a month, but I knew she was happy to see me again. We gained official membership into the Federation and we were eager to help other worlds, and they in kind. We were given a list of laws that we needed to abide by and there was a zero tolerance for any wrongdoing. We were left to continue helping out other worlds through the Trade market and I volunteered as much as possible for the next year or two until one mission changed everything._

 **Planet Gardenia, Age 775…**

Perilla had her arms wrapped around Kelerot from behind him as he sat on the bed. He wanted to stand up but she held him in place, her face buried into his back with a smile.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"To South Village for the shuttle launch," Kelerot replied and she squeezed him even tighter.

"Let it leave, you can go on the next one," she said calmly. Kelerot took her hands and lowered them off him, standing up. She covered herself in the blanket as he put on his clothes and she sighed, staring at him.

"You know I can't do that, Perilla. This one's rather important since they need some extra muscle to traverse an uncharted section of the system. We heard from a source close to the Pride Troopers that there was a planet that had materials capable of speeding up the growth of our crops."

She frowned in response. "Something about that sounds too good to be true. You know that, right?"

Kelerot nodded. "It's worth a look anyway. If we suspect we were misled we'll double back here as quickly as possible."

"You should have Daikon accompany you," Perilla said. "You need all the strength you can for this mission."

"Since when do you doubt my fighting ability?" Kelerot asked, turning to face her.

"I can't help but worry about you every time you leave," she said, staring at him. He always felt uneasy every time she gave him that look but he smiled in return and stood confidently.

"I've got two of the best of our group coming with me on this one. Sprouts and Renkon have been really good, I trust them to help me out."

They shared a lengthy embrace before he waved at her as he walked out of the house and the last thing he saw was Perilla's warm smile framing her face.

 _I'll never forget that face, it's been etched in my memory for so long. Every night I think of that face before I fall asleep, hoping that I'd come back home to see her again._

 _We launched into space yet the planet we needed to travel to had forced us to navigate through shaky terrain. The sensors picked up ionic activity that would've disrupted our ship's systems if we didn't compensate for them. We were restricted to our backup systems due to the residual ionic energy messing up our main navigational systems._

 _South Village had a lot of Saiyans that trained with the Pride Troopers and a crew of pilots and engineers were ready and able to work the ship while we conducted our missions. The crew assigned to us warned us about another ship coming into sensor range and we thought it might've been a Pride Trooper cruiser escorting us to our destination, but when it came into view, it wasn't anything we had seen before._

 _The ship was large and menacing, something that sent alarm bells in the back of our heads. We told the pilots to turn around and head back to Gardenia immediately but due to the ionic storm that temporarily shut our main systems down, our backup system wouldn't give us enough power to escape in time. The three of us who volunteered for this mission needed to be ready for what was coming and next thing we knew the ship fired on us, disabling us. We were sitting ducks before we even realized we became sitting ducks._

The large ship, angular and imposing, descended towards them. Kelerot could see it eclipse their ship within seconds and grinding noises could be heard above as they were coming in.

"Sprouts, Renkon, get ready, we're taking down whatever comes through that door. The rest of you stay here and get on repairs immediately when we engage the intruders."

 _Sprouts was one of the adult farmers, one of the first to train under Daikon along with myself. Renkon had sworn a brotherhood oath with Spinac and said he grew close to one of the women of South Village. If Perilla and I weren't together, I was likely seen often with Renkon and Spinac. Chard and Gourd were still struggling in their training but they eventually became really good at their fighting. I hated that Perilla kept refusing to go with us but she later confessed that she was actually scared of travelling in such a confined space and kept praying for my safe return. She confessed a lot of things to me that day too, and it was the first time I ever heard her say how much she loved me._

 _It was a surprise to hear her say that, but I figured we were getting very close and that our friendship was more than it was on the surface. I was hopeful that this wouldn't be as bad as I anticipated and that we'd come back to Gardenia as soon as this was over._

Kelerot, Sprouts, and Renkon all powered up, flashing white auras surrounding them and they rushed to the source of the noise. When they saw a laser slice a circle through their hull, the piece fell onto the floor and several dark-clothed figures emerged. Kelerot picked off a couple of them while Renkon and Sprouts provided support and they got to the first wave with precise energy blasts.

"Let's take them out before they get desperate," Renkon said and Kelerot nodded.

"Indeed. Let's get going. Get on the repairs as quickly as possible, we'll buy you some time!" Kelerot yelled at the crew in the cockpit and the three of them jumped up into the entrance of the invading ship.

They were greeted with energy blasts from firearms and the three of them rushed through, punching and kicking them down. They had a distinct advantage fighting off these men but as they progressed through the corridor to the next room, Sprouts took a shot to the head from a stray blaster bolt and he lost his footing, falling down to the wall.

"Sprouts!" Kelerot shouted, rushing over to him while taking out a couple who were firing in his direction.

"Ow, that one hurt," Sprouts said, and noticed that the energy bolt cut through the side of his head.

"You should get yourself back to the ship and have the medic look at it," Kelerot told him.

"I'll be fine, it's nothing."  
"I can't take any chances with this," Kelerot said, helping Sprouts to his feet. "We've overstayed our welcome as it is and I hope they got the navigation fixed so we can get out of here. Renkon and I will deal as much damage to this thing as we can before we're out of here."

"Okay. Be careful, Kelerot," Sprouts told him and Kelerot stood up.

"If I don't get back to you within thirty minutes, assuming the ship can move again, get going and return to Gardenia."

"But what about you?" Sprouts asked.

"Renkon and I will be fine. When you see Perilla again, tell her…"

Kelerot stared ahead at the firefight. Renkon was holding his own, fighting off a few of them with brute force due to his larger stature. He developed a large physique over the years while training with Daikon and Kelerot was always impressed by how strong Renkon was.

"Tell her 'thank you'."

Kelerot ran off to join Renkon and they began clearing the hallway to the set of doors that led to the next room. Sprouts felt dizzy as he stood up and made his way to the hatch that connected the large ship to theirs and he carefully made his way down.

When Kelerot and Renkon arrived at the doors, they opened up for them. Standing before them was an imposing figure with thick body armor and spikes protruding from his face. A few others that looked like him stood around him as he looked down at the mess of bodies that lay behind Kelerot and Renkon and he cocked an eyebrow. He began clapping his hands with a sinister grin on his face.

"I must applaud your resistance, you've put up quite a fight against my crew," he said and Kelerot stood ready with a fighting stance. Renkon cracked his knuckles and stared defiantly at the figure.

"Captain Kurtain, what do you want us to do with them?" one of them asked. Kurtain brought a hand to his chin and stared at the two for a moment. He then waved his hand as he turned around.

"Kill them, I don't care how. Then raid their ship and take it down for parts. We can probably fetch a good price for what's there."

"With pleasure!" he said and they began moving on Kelerot and Renkon. Renkon caught their fists and twisted their hands, causing the two to fall to their knees, while Kelerot engaged with a slimmer-looking crewman, who was able to put up a fight.

"Renkon, these guys are a lot tougher! Be on your guard!" Kelerot shouted and he caught a punch to the face that almost knocked him down. Kelerot staggered back a few steps and wiped the blood from his mouth with a smile, motioning the lanky man to come forward again.

Renkon defeated the two he grabbed and moved down to engage the others, who were slightly tougher and he was fighting off three at once. He took a few shots from their fists and kicks and he was backed into a wall before he fired off an energy beam that blew one of them back to the far wall of the room the Captain was in and Kurtain easily stepped aside as the crewman flew past him. He observed the fighting with intrigue and sat down on his chair, resting his head on his fist with a smirk on his lips.

Kelerot eventually knocked out his opponent and dashed over to Renkon to lend him a hand and they both managed to knock out the other fighters, leaving Kurtain with three others behind him. He stood up and raised his hand to hold them back, smiling the whole time.

"I haven't seen skilled fighting like that since the Pride Troopers," Kurtain said, unlatching his cape to let it fall behind him as he approached the two Saiyans. "Did they teach you how to fight?"

"We didn't learn from the Pride Troopers, but it would be nice if they were here to take you down," Kelerot said, standing ready beside Renkon and Kurtain laughed.

"The Pride Troopers have no jurisdiction over the Linen Pirates," Kurtain said and Renkon glared at him furiously.

"I've had enough of this loud-mouth!" Renkon shouted and he rushed at Kurtain.

"Wait!" Kelerot shouted but Kurtain's movements were so sudden and fast he hadn't had time to register what happened. Next thing he noticed was Kurtain's hand around Renkon's neck, holding him up at least a foot off the floor with a piercing glare and a toothy grin.

"You're skilled against us Pirates, I'll give you that. But you're nowhere near my level," Kurtain said and he pierced Renkon through the chest with his free hand. Kelerot watched in horror as he saw the hand burst through Renkon, jutting out of his back and blood trickling down onto the floor from the hand.

Kurtain pulled his hand out and threw Renkon to the side like a ragdoll, the limp body rolling a few times before stopping by a console in the room. Kelerot glared at Kurtain, building up energy in his hands. Kurtain made a "come here" motion with his blood-stained hand and Kelerot aimed his hands at the ship's interior instead. Kurtain's smile faded as he noticed what Kelerot was doing.

"I'll take this whole place down with me unless you let us leave," he said. Kurtain lowered his hand and stared down at Kelerot.

"You're in no position to give me instructions, whatever you are," Kurtain said menacingly.

"He looks like one of those, what do you call them? Monkeys? Didn't we have monkeys like that back on Bas?" one of the Pirates said and Kurtain chuckled a bit.

"This one's too ugly to look like a monkey. Before I kill you, would you at least grace us with your name?" Kurtain asked and Kelerot smirked.

"I'll make you apologize for that monkey remark first of all. Second, I'm a Saiyan from Gardenia and the name's Kelerot."

"Gardenia?" Kurtain said, raising an eyebrow.

"It's a planet not too far off from our sensors. Let's head there after we dispatch this freak and serve his head on a pike to his loved ones as we take all their stuff," said one of the Pirates and Kelerot glared at him. He flew straight at him but was blind to Kurtain's attack, a simple chop to the back of Kelerot's neck that knocked him out mid-flight and sent him to the floor. Kurtain flipped him over onto his back with a foot and he stared down at him.

"What do you think, Captain? Do you want me to do the honors?" one of the Pirates said and he raised an outstretched hand to aim an energy blast at Kelerot's unconscious body. Kurtain squatted down to get a closer look at him and gently moved the pirate's hand away.

"Bind him for now, I'll figure out what to do with him later. Dump the other one off the ship," Kurtain said, grinning up at the pirate.

Just as Kurtain stood back up on his feet, the ship began to shake and Kurtain frowned, glancing back at the monitors in the room. One of them showed a sensor sweep of the ship's outer hull and the ship that they boarded detached itself from their hull and began to move.

"Dammit! They're escaping! After them!" screamed one of the Pirates but Kurtain raised his hand.

"Don't bother, they're not a threat. They came out of an ionic storm, which was a stupid decision on their part so let them squirm their way back home for all I care. At least we won't have trouble finding Gardenia after we've taken care of what we need to do first. They were just unfortunate to run into us when they did."

Kurtain chuckled as he stared down at Kelerot and the other pirates joined in for a laugh.

"Shelves, resume course to planet Cellar, we've got some cargo to unload. Let's hope they have the money ready. I'd hate for exchanges to go south."

"Aye-aye, Captain!" Shelves said, saluting Kurtain and he led a couple other pirates to the control room to resume the ship's movement. Two grabbed Renkon's dead body to drag him out of the room while Kurtain lifted Kelerot to hoist him on one shoulder. He walked over to where their brig was and threw him into the room, locking the door behind him.

When Kelerot came to, he noticed the unfamiliar room he was in. He groggily stood back up on his feet and walked over to where he could see a door and tried to open it, but with no luck. He tried to channel energy but was having difficulty due to the nature of the injury he suffered from Kurtain's blow. He was hit much harder than he anticipated and realized how weakened he was as a result. He did what he could to barge into the door but was unsuccessful in getting it open. He looked at the panel but had no clue what any of the buttons did. He tried pressing a few but nothing seemed to happen. One of them did end up being a communicator and a voice came out from the intercom.

"What?"

"Hey, what's going on here? Where am I?" Kelerot asked.

"Hey Captain, he's awake," said the voice on the other end and Kurtain's voice came on a moment later.

"Your name was Kelerot, correct?" Kurtain said.

"Yes. Where am I?"

"You're on my ship, in the brig to be more specific. We're on our way to planet Cellar for an important exchange. We could use some extra 'collateral'."

"Collateral?" Kelerot asked.

"Yes. I don't think the people of Cellar would mind an extra servant on top of our goods. So long as we can smuggle this beyond Pride Trooper surveillance, we'll make a huge profit off of this, plus an extra bonus if they accept you as a way to sweeten the deal."

"I'll die before I'm made to serve anyone!" Kelerot yelled and Kurtain laughed.

"That ain't your choice to make, monkey. You're my cargo now and I choose what to do with it. I couldn't care less what the Cellars do with you but the less time you spend on my ship, the better."

The communicator shuts off and Kelerot banged on it out of spite. He leaned forward on the door and sighed. He walked around the room, unable to see anything other than a small cot to sleep on, a toilet, and lights dimly illuminating the room.

It had been several hours and Kelerot felt his hunger get the best of him. He needed to eat a lot to keep his strength up and realized that these pirates weren't going to feed him anything anytime soon, knowing they were just going to dump him as soon as they arrived on this planet. He sat on the cot, looking up at the ceiling and sighed heavily.

"Perilla…"

When the ship touched down on the planet's surface, the door to the brig opened and two of the pirates came in. They grabbed Kelerot by the arms and dragged him out of the room. He couldn't find the strength to put up a resistance and as much as he struggled to escape, the two pirates held a firm grip. They brought him to Kurtain who stared down at him with a smile.

"You should fetch us a pretty sum," he said, tapping Kelerot a couple times on the cheek, chuckling as he did it. Kelerot quickly head-butted him and it managed to do something to his face, as Kurtain recoiled, clutching his face. He grunted in pain as he held his nose and glared at Kelerot. The other pirates were about to rush him but Kurtain raised his hand, holding his nose with the other.

"I want this monkey filth off my ship as quickly as possible, then we'll set course for Gardenia immediately afterwards," Kurtain said, rubbing his nose, checking to see if it had been broken. There was a bruise left on the bridge of it and a bit of blood had trickled down, but he was pretty sure that Kelerot hadn't hit it hard enough to break it.

He led the crew outside the ship, dragging Kelerot behind him and they awaited their meeting with the Cellars. The Cellar leader, a toad-like humanoid with spikes along the ridges of his head, walked over to Kurtain and gave him a salute with his hands to his chest, tapping it twice.

"Welcome, Captain Kurtain! You've come with good intentions, I take it?" the leader asked.

"Indeed. Bring the goods out," Kurtain ordered and four pirates walked back into the ship. A couple minutes went by and they came out two by two, each carrying a large metal box down the ramp. Kelerot kept struggling but the pirates holding him down maintained their grip. The Cellar leader glanced occasionally at Kelerot and cleared his throat.

"What is with this creature? He looks problematic," he asked.

"I am throwing this on top of the goods for a bonus, say 15 percent?" Kurtain asked and the leader's eyes widened.

"That was never part of the original agreement. We requested these goods smuggled across Trooper monitored territory, not some ugly furry thing we have no use for."

Kurtain belted out a laugh. "But look at this face. This is the face of a dedicated servant! He will do your bidding, won't you?"

Kurtain grabbed Kelerot by the back of his head and Kelerot yelled out in pain from the strength of his grip. Kurtain chuckled as he let go of his hair.

"Like hell I'm going to be a servant!" Kelerot yelled and tried to struggle out of their clutches but one of the pirates kneed him in the gut.

"Be quiet!" said the one that kneed him.

"You must think I'm a fool if I'm going to take someone like this who is unwilling to do as he's told," the Cellar leader said and snapped his fingers. A Cellar brought over a case which the leader opened and several bars of a precious-looking metal shone brightly in Kurtain's face.

"Your payment, as promised. Take this…thing…and get out of my sight."

Several ships above them decloaked before their eyes and Kurtain's face grew pale for a moment, looking up at them nervously.

"Captain Kurtain! You are surrounded! Step forward with your hands in the air and surrender!" came a deep booming voice. The hatches of the ships opened and a few of the Pride Troopers exited the ships. Kurtain glared at one of them, recognizing him with his large white mustache covering his mouth, his reptilian like eyes staring down at him. The other two, a slim rabbit-like humanoid and another with a beret on his head and a device attached to the side of his face covering his eye descended with a regiment of Troopers all dressed in their red and black spandex uniforms.

"Toppo…" Kurtain muttered under his breath.

The two that held Kelerot let him go and stood ready to fight the Troopers and Kelerot collapsed to his knees. The Pride Troopers didn't seem to notice him at first, focusing on the Cellar leader and Kurtain. Kurtain glanced back at Kelerot, then at the Pride Troopers and a grin came over his face. His grin faded as he stared at Kelerot.

"You, you set me up?" Kurtain said to Kelerot, who glanced back in confusion.

"What?!" Kelerot yelled and Kurtain pointed a shaking finger at him.

"You promised the Pride Troopers weren't going to be involved! You led us into a trap!" Kurtain yelled accusingly and Kelerot's eyes widened.

"Everyone be quiet!" Toppo commanded.

"Come with us quietly or there'll be trouble!" the rabbit-like one stated, arms crossed. The one with the beret stood ready while the rest of the Pride Troopers surrounded the pirates and the Cellars.

"Hey, you got us into this, get us out of it!" Kurtain yelled at Kelerot and Toppo glanced at him.

"You masterminded this?" he said and Kelerot's face grew paler by the minute.

"I-"

"Justice must be served this day! Seize them and bring them in!" he commanded and the Troopers began advancing on the pirates and the Cellars. Kelerot glared at Kurtain, who returned the glare with a sinister grin. Kurtain whistled to the pirates and they began attacking the Pride Troopers to distract them while he began to make his way back to the ship, while the Cellars tried to grab the metal boxes to run away from the area as quickly as possible.

"Justice Flash!" Toppo yelled and fired a barrage of small energy blasts from his outstretched hand, each finger firing a hail of energy balls at the Cellars. It hit the metal boxes, destroying them, and knocked out a few Cellars, who scattered all over the place. Some were taken down by a few of the Troopers while the rest managed to escape. Kurtain had to dodge and avoid energy blasts from the one in the beret and they had a brief scuffle, both showing an equal amount of strength and speed, while the rabbit-like one made quick work of the pirates with blazing fast movements that Kelerot couldn't even see. He hadn't learned how to track that level of movement yet and was at a loss for what to do. When he tried to leave the area to return to the ship, the rabbit-like one sped up to appear in front of him.

"Where do you think you're going? Trying to weasel your way out of this, eh?" he said and Kelerot's eyes widened.

"Please, you don't understand! I was captured against my will and forced into this! I had nothing to do with this!"

"Spare me your lies, evildoer!" the rabbit-like one said and Kelerot managed to summon up a few reserves of strength to channel energy and fly away. The rabbit-like one quickly intercepted him and knocked him back down to the ground.

"You and your pirate friends have scoured the galaxies long enough!" he said and pinned Kelerot down on the ground. Kurtain gave the beret wearing Trooper the slip and quickly made his getaway in the ship. Toppo fired a barrage of energy blasts at the ship as the hatch closed, which a few pirates managed to escape into after they had knocked out some of the lesser strong Troopers to escape. In total, half a dozen pirates were knocked out, while a small group of Cellars had also succumbed to the Trooper's attack. Kelerot was brought up to his feet by the rabbit-like Trooper, who bound him in energy binders, holding him by his arms and neck.

"You're going away for a long time, evildoer, I guarantee you that," he said.

"Good work, Dyspo," Toppo said.

"Who would've thought we would apprehend one of Kurtain's biggest accomplices? To think this one orchestrated their smuggling operation," Dyspo said and Kelerot stared back at him.

"What are you talking about?! I don't even remotely look like a pirate!"

"A criminal's pleas and words are always hollow and deceitful," Toppo said and Dyspo nodded in approval.

"General Toppo, I've surveyed the area and I'm counting four Troopers knocked out of commission," the one in the beret named Kahseral informed him. "They are being taken to the medical ship as we speak. We've been able to apprehend six pirates and eight Cellars from this operation alone. Seems like we were fortunate to have stumbled upon Captain Kurtain's co-ringleader. Once we extract all the info we can from this one, we'll have no trouble apprehending Kurtain for good."

"Thank you, Kahseral, proceed with the recovery," Toppo told him.

Kelerot couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. The whole time he had been led to believe that the Pride Troopers meant a great deal to him, that they helped usher Gardenia in to a better and prosperous future, only to now be falsely accused of working with a pirate he had never met before who captured him to sell as a slave.

"Please, listen to me! You have to believe that I had nothing to do with any of this! You're jumping to conclusions! Take me to my home and I will have my friends vouch for me! Please, I need to go home to Gar-"

He couldn't finish as Dyspo knocked him out with a hit to the back of the head. He shook his head.

"They never change, do they?" he said and Toppo nodded.

"We'll prep him for the tribunal. Kutlerie will be pleased to see a criminal such as this one serve time in our Galactic Prison," he said and they brought Kelerot onto their ship.

When Kelerot regained consciousness for the second time, he found himself decked out in prisoner garb, his wrists and ankles bound in energy binders. He stood before a trio of Pride Troopers, the faces from earlier, plus a couple new ones.

"Present the final criminal before me," Kutlerie stated. Toppo signaled to Dyspo and he led Kelerot to the front of the desk.

"Read the charges," Toppo ordered Dyspo.

"This criminal is charged with co-conspiracy to commit a class alpha violation of goods transfer, illegally traversing Trooper protected space with wanted fugitive pirates, smuggling contraband materials used to create planet destroying explosives, and resisting arrest. If the criminal confesses to these charges and provides information on his alibis, his sentence can be reduced, otherwise he will serve the full sentence of twenty-five years with possibility for parole in fifteen."

"You understand the charges as they have been read out to you?" Kutlerie asked him. Kelerot stared at all of them.

"I…"

"Do you understand what you are being sentenced with?" Kutlerie asked again, his tone losing a bit of patience.

"It would seem this evildoer is unwilling to confess," Toppo said and Kelerot felt his heart beat so fast he thought it was going to burst from his chest. He felt pain in his wrists and ankles from the energy binders being so tight, but even more so he began to feel the pain in his stomach from the lack of food and he was close to passing out from both the hunger and the pain in his head and body. The shock of the whole situation left his head spinning. He couldn't think straight anymore nor could he think up the words to speak to plead his case.

"So be it," Kutlerie said. "You are hereby stripped of identity, status, title, and/or individuality you possess. You are no longer designated by the name you were born with. You are now the property of the Pride Troopers and issued the number you shall be henceforth known by: 312-1984. The guards will escort you to your prison cell and instruct you on meal times, lockdown, recreation time, and assigned duties. Hearing adjourned."

Kutlerie hit his gavel on the table and stood up. Toppo, Dyspo, and Kahseral gave him a look and saluted him before they left the room. Two guards entered and brought Kelerot with them to his cell. He was lined up with some of the other pirates who glanced at him and began laughing among themselves, grinning around them. The Cellars weren't as enthusiastic as they looked around nervously at their new surroundings while Kelerot was too shocked to say anything, looking dejected and defeated as he was led to his cell. His vision felt blurry as he walked, as if he wasn't aware of his surroundings. Nothing looked or felt remotely real to him anymore and he screamed in his head hoping this was all a bad dream that he needed to wake up from.

When they brought him to his cell, they undid the bindings and shoved him in, the door closing behind him. Kelerot fell to his knees and put his hands to his face, eyes wide in fear, doubt, and confusion. He couldn't bring himself to think straight yet, only the dreaded realization that he was now a prisoner, sentenced to serve for a crime he didn't commit.

His shocked face morphed into an ice-cold stare as he looked at the wall in front of him, where a mirror hung showing his reflection. All traces of happiness and joy were long gone from the face that was reflected in the mirror, for Kelerot could do nothing but feel a burning sense of anger and malice in his heart. The image of Toppo, Dyspo, and Kahseral looked faint in the mirror's reflection and Kelerot burned those faces into his head, gritting his teeth.

 **Present day…**

Goku couldn't believe it either, as he looked at Kelerot with his eyes wide in surprise.

"Wow," he said.

"When the Pride Troopers accuse you of committing an evil act, their word is absolute, no matter how much you plead with them. If they think for a moment you've broken the law, they will put you in prison and leave you there," Kelerot said, staring at him.

"Gosh, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry you had to go through all that," Goku said, arms crossed.

"The first few weeks of my sentence were rough. No one knew what a Saiyan was, only that I was the 'monkey freak' or 'monkey scum' I was eventually known as.

"But that was when I discovered something about us Saiyans that we didn't realize before. I got into a fight with one of the pirates and he beat me up pretty badly. I thought I was going to die for sure this time but the guards found me and brought me to the medical room to heal me back to normal. Next thing I knew I felt stronger. Doing things around the prison felt easier, lifting weights felt better than when I started, and the next fight I found myself in, I was holding my own a bit more until I got jumped by a few more inmates, and ended up almost dead again.

"When I recovered a second time in the medical room, my strength was even greater than before. I quickly realized how useful this became, but then I started to run into a problem. I asked myself 'what if I get too strong for them to fight against?'"

"So you do have similar traits that we do," Goku said and Kelerot nodded.

"Yeah. Every time I healed from near-fatal injuries; I felt my power grow. I began to think of ways I could gain advantage of this tactic and I made the grim realization that the only way I could easily gain strength was to put my body on the line each time I'd fight. I began to make use of Master Daikon's training and controlled my power, training myself on how to raise and lower it at will. I improved considerably on that and deduced that I could lower my power just enough for the other inmates to critically injure me so I can recover and gain the boost in strength.

"It was for a brief moment, but I did sense Toppo's power, as well as Dyspo's and Kahseral's. I knew they were strong beyond anything I could possibly imagine, and I knew that if I was ever going to fight them and avenge myself, I'd have to build myself up to be stronger than they were. I sacrificed my body over and over again, becoming stronger each time. I eventually lost track of how often I did it that it just became second-nature to me. I didn't really know how strong I had gotten until I went face to face with Jiren.

It was also during my time there that I discovered how to control gravity. It was difficult at first because of how complex the energy was with gravitational waves, but it helped with my weight training. I trained this ability every single day while I was in my cell and in the recreation area lifting their weights. I would channel gravity into each weight to make it heavier and it helped build my core strength as much as possible. I got to experience many different aspects of gravity techniques that I began mental and image training to uncover the various opportunities. Of course, I wouldn't know for sure until I was able to test them against the other prisoners as I fought them. I trained with it just enough not to make myself known to the others how strong I had become but I was considerably pleased with the results."

Goku was stunned as he listened to Kelerot tell his account during his stay in prison and he frowned.

"Are you sure what you did was wise? I know I would never put myself on the line like that to grow strong. What about all those other prisoners? Weren't they strong fighters?" Goku asked and Kelerot sighed.

"They were strong, no question. But when you reach a point in your strength where the other prisoners become a joke to you, I soon realized that I needed to be absolutely sure I was strong enough to take on the top fighters of the Pride Troopers, otherwise I wouldn't be able to pay them back for what they did to me. Putting my body on the line was a small price to pay if the end goal is what matters above anything else.

"Somehow Warden Kutlerie was aware of all these fights I was putting myself in and he and the other guards set up caged fights for sport and entertainment, believing that it would help control the chaos in the prison. I was able to somehow befriend Tupper and Vuon after they arrived at the Prison, even though they represented what I had grown to despise the most."

"It's still not too late to change your mind, Kelerot. Daikon taught you the importance of not seeking revenge and giving in to your emotions, remember? There has to be another way you can clear your name and help them understand that you did nothing wrong," Goku said and Kelerot shook his head.

"The more time I spent in that Prison, the less likely I was ever going to see Master Daikon, Perilla, and my friends ever again. All I had to go by were Daikon's teachings but emotional control, knowing what I had been through, proved pointless. I heard from other inmates that Kutlerie continuously denied their parole and it made me suspicious about the way he was running the prison. My suspicions were confirmed when he denied my parole after I 'confessed' to my crimes. He was never going to let any of us leave the prison because he had grown so hungry with power that he ruled us like a dictator. When he told me that Gardenia was destroyed, it cemented my decision to leave. It wasn't my intention to kill anyone while I escaped, but Kutlerie's little scumbag Satula sent out a distress signal to the other Pride Troopers that I was escaping and I felt that destroying the prison was my only recourse, not only to shut them up, but to free those prisoners from a fate they had no clue they were suffering from. I did them a courtesy and spared them a lifetime of misery."

Goku wanted to protest, but he remembered long ago during his time as a child fighting the Red Ribbon army that there was some degree of relevance to what Kelerot was saying. Crippling their military when he took the lives of those soldiers in self-defence meant that there was some sort of sympathy for this situation but he kept his grim look on Kelerot. Something about this felt wrong to him, knowing how desperate a vengeful person could get based on his past experiences fighting others. He stood up and Kelerot rose up as well. He could sense a bit of tension rising in the air as Goku stared at him, frowning.

"You honestly don't believe that someone should have the right to exact revenge for something that happened to them?" Kelerot asked.

"Of course not. I wouldn't have killed those other prisoners like you did," he said.

"If you were in my shoes, you'd know you'd have done the same thing," Kelerot said, staring at him.

"I get where you're coming from, but I'm not you, though. I can't understand what you went through, but I know there had to have been some other way to make things right and help the Pride Troopers understand your situation. I don't like that you got falsely accused, but you don't strike me as the kind of guy who'd want to take revenge so easily like you almost did with those boars who accidentally killed your family."

Kelerot glared at him. "You don't know the Pride Troopers like I do."

Kelerot clenched his fists and Goku felt as though they were going to fight again, only more seriously this time.

"They're good people who are just doing their job, why take that away from them?" Goku asked.

"Because Toppo took _everything_ from me. I lost my identity, my individuality, and my home, all because of him. I learned through my delving technique that Toppo himself was the one who destroyed Gardenia and I aim to find out why."

Goku's eyes widened from that.

"His twisted sense of justice made him careless about what he perceives as good and evil and only sees things two-dimensionally. It became even more clear when he became a God of Destruction and destroyed my home. I will find out why if I have to go through every single Pride Trooper to do it."

Goku paused for a moment, feeling like he was in a bit of a bind. He wanted to recount a time in his past when he saw Freeza kill his best friend Krillin on Namek and the rage it made him feel deep inside, his aura exploding when he transformed into a Super Saiyan. He could almost feel that rage inside Kelerot the more he sensed his power. It made him feel dread but also excited, much like how he felt when he first engaged Jiren at the Tournament of Power. Seeing a powerful fighter like Kelerot stand before him gave him that exhilarating feeling again, the way he always felt when a strong opponent comes his way. His urge to fight him and test the limits of his strength began to rise once more and he wanted to engage Kelerot for real this time.

Yet only this time he had a lingering sense of doubt in the back of his head, as though fighting Kelerot didn't seem like it would produce the same outcome. The longer he stared at him, the more unsure he became about engaging him physically and he couldn't wrap his head around why. Maybe it was intuition? Maybe the lingering aftereffects of Ultra Instinct might have remained deeply ingrained in his subconscious?

It was then that he and Kelerot felt another presence fly down towards them and Goku knew from the energy that it was Piccolo. Kelerot stared at him in silence as he saw him land and Piccolo stared at him for a moment.

"Goku, is everything alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, we had a brief fight but mostly it was us talking."

Piccolo glanced at Kelerot for a moment and he felt a lot of pressure from his energy overwhelming the area with tension. He gritted his teeth. _I haven't felt a power like this since Jiren._

Kelerot powered down, turning around to walk away. "I've told you all that I remembered, Goku. I hope you'll understand my position eventually and make the wise choice not to intervene. You're a good person. I'd hate to have to fight you for real this time."

Kelerot took to the air and flew back in the direction of Papaya island. Goku stared at him for a while as Piccolo had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What monster did we welcome to our universe this time?" he asked.

"He's incredibly strong, but he's not a monster. I think he means it when he said he wasn't going to hurt us or the planet. I am a little worried now for the Pride Troopers if he ever goes back to his universe. If he does go, there's no telling what he'd be capable of because none of them are safe."

Piccolo's eyes widened a bit.

"You don't mean."  
"Yeah, he might actually be as strong as Jiren. Maybe even stronger."


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 – "A portent of things to come? An unwelcome discovery in Universe 1."**

 **A great power…**

When Goku and Kelerot powered up for their fight, many people scattered across the multiverse felt Kelerot's power when he channeled his energy.

Piccolo was shocked out of his meditative state that he froze in fear, shaking a bit. Gohan had joined him in his free time and he too was startled out of his state. They both stood up and stared out in the direction they felt the power from.

"What is this pressure I'm feeling?!" Gohan cried. Piccolo was still trying to gather his thoughts to think straight and he stared ahead, growling under his breath.

"Your father's fighting that Saiyan from the Eleventh Universe."

"I haven't felt pressure like this since we faced those Pride Troopers," Gohan said and Piccolo clenched hands into fists.

"How many more monsters is that Universe going to produce?" he said. "We should meet up with the kids and make sure they don't make any reckless decision."

Gohan nodded again and the two took off to the hotel where the combatants were resting.

Uub, Pan, and Bulla stopped for a moment as they were making their way back to their respective rooms and Uub was the first to look apprehensive. Pan's eyes lit up while Bulla looked uncomfortable.

"Is that my grandpa and that weird guy? Why are they fighting?" Pan asked.

"I don't know," Uub said and he clenched his fists.

"What the heck is going on? I'm kinda freaking out at the amount of power I'm sensing here," Bulla stated and Pan saw how pale her face started to look.

"I'm kinda feeling scared myself, to be honest," Pan said and instinctively went to grab Uub's hand without realizing it. Uub noticed it for a moment but chose to ignore it since he was still focused heavily on Goku and Kelerot's energy.

"This guy's energy is crazy! I'm feeling a great deal of pressure, like it suddenly became harder to breathe," Bulla said and Pan let go of Uub's hand to comfort Bulla.

"I'm sure it'll be alright. Grandpa's way tougher than you think and he won't let energy like that intimidate him."

Pan took Bulla's hands, which were actually shaking a bit and held them to calm her friend down. Bulla looked at Pan for a moment then took a deep breath.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to freak out," she said.

Now it was Pan's turn to start freaking out when she stopped sensing Goku's energy. She felt her heart beat faster and she stared at the direction where she lost track of Goku's power.

"Something happened to Grandpa, I can't feel his energy anymore!" Pan cried out and started to run off.

"Wait! Something feels different!" Uub called out to Pan and he closed his eyes. He furrowed his brow and focused on the area where he sensed Goku and Kelerot's energies collide and could feel Goku's power, yet this one was a great deal higher than before.

"I can still sense Master Goku's power, but it's way different than anything I've felt before," Uub said and Pan looked back at him, confused. Even Bulla stared at him warily.

"Are you sure? You're not hallucinating on us or anything?" Bulla said and Uub shook his head.

"No, I'm certain I can still sense him but his energy is way different than what I usually sense. It feels calmer somehow. But the more I look into it, the more it feels like I'm in the middle of the ocean and there are storms all around me yet where I'm standing is still very peaceful. I can't explain it very well but is this what divine energy feels like?"

Pan's eyes widened a bit.

"Divine?"

"Like what my dad, Whis, and Uncle Beerus have?" Bulla asked.

Then it clicked.

"That's it!" Uub cried out. "Master Goku's energy right now is exactly like Lord Beerus's."

Pan closed her eyes and started to focus as well. She began to feel something stir in the air, and an image of a small flame flickering on a candle's wick formed in her head. The image embedded itself into a red flaming aura that was shaped like Goku but it still looked distorted and unnatural. The head looked familiar due to Goku's hair but she opened her eyes out of frustration as the image faded. Bulla kept staring at the two and wondered if Pan had been able to sense it as well.

"Anything?" Bulla asked.

"I don't know," Pan said. "I don't know what Grandpa's energy is supposed to feel like. I'm trying to picture it in my head but I get lost in all of it. I'm surprised you can sense it though, Uub."

"I'm actually surprised you're able to distinguish Goku's energy from that other guy's," Bulla said, shuddering a bit. "His power is so overwhelming that I can barely sense Goku at all," Bulla said and Pan nodded. She felt worry creep up again within her and smiled when she saw Piccolo and Gohan step into view down the hall.

"Dad! Uncle Piccolo!" Pan cried out and Uub opened his eyes, grinning as he saw the two come into view.

"You felt it too, didn't you?" Pan said and Gohan nodded.

"We've come to warn you against going there," Piccolo said and Uub shook his head.

"You don't have to worry about us, we weren't going to. Master's fighting this guy with a lot more power that I didn't know he had," Uub said and Piccolo stared at him for a moment.

 _Can he actually sense divine energy?_ He thought.

"I wonder if Broly and his kids can feel this power as well?" Gohan asked.

"Hmph, it might scare that brat straight for once," Pan said with a smirk and started walking down the hall. The others joined her and Uub couldn't help but continue glancing over in the direction he sensed the fighting take place. Piccolo stole a few glances behind him and stared ahead.

"For now we should rest for the night and prepare for tomorrow. You've got important matches to fight in the semi-finals," Piccolo said and Uub was still fixated to have paid attention. Pan nodded and noticed Uub wasn't listening. She walked beside him and elbowed him in the side, snapping him out of it.

"Did you not hear what Piccolo said?" she asked.

"Huh?" Uub replied.

"Let's stop worrying about Grandpa and instead focus on tomorrow. You should get plenty of sleep for your fight against Buu."

Uub had a grim look on his face. "Yeah, I should sleep, shouldn't I?"

Pan still had a concerned look on her face whenever she saw Uub stare off like that. She slowed down her walking pace to make sure he wasn't lagging behind and nodded at Bulla.

"Hey Bulla, go on ahead to our room, I'll join up with you shortly," Pan said and Bulla nodded. "Good night Uncle Piccolo. Good night dad!" Pan said, and the two adults nodded with a smile on their face. When Pan and Uub were alone in the hall, they walked casually until they reached Uub's hotel room. They hadn't said anything for the brief moment they were alone and Pan wanted to break the silence.

"So…" Pan said.

"So…" Uub replied.

They both looked away and then back at each other.

"Good luck in your mat-" they said in unison and they both blushed in response.

"Hey, um, Pan? Be careful against Choi, he's not someone you should take lightly," Uub said, staring down at her. He couldn't conceal how red his face was when she saw how pretty her eyes looked to him and she gave him a confident smile.

"Don't worry about me, Uub. I know he's a very strong fighter and if I learned anything from dad and grandpa, fighting strong opponents is a challenge but also a great experience. You should heed this advice as well against Buu tomorrow."

She tapped him lightly in the chest and Uub chuckled nervously.

"Ha ha, yeah," he said and rubbed the back of his head, looking away.

"Anyway, I'll see you first thing in the morning, okay?" Pan said.

"Yeah. Good night, Pan."

She reached up and kissed him on the cheek before running off to her hotel room and Uub stared at her, stunned. He felt his cheek and closed his eyes with a smile on his face before he entered his hotel room to retire for the night.

In Broly's room, Broly was the first to be startled by the sudden surge of power he sensed and quickly walked over to the window to look outside. Cheelai and Lemo glanced at him, confused.

"Hey big guy, you alright?" Lemo asked. Broly couldn't hide the look of apprehension on his face as he stared out nervously outside. Cheelai hadn't seen a look of concern on his face quite like this and she walked over to him, grabbing his hand.

"Broly, talk to me, what's bothering you?" she asked.

"Kakarot and that other Saiyan are fighting," he said.

Bok and Choi both looked at each other and decided to focus on the direction their father was looking at and they too were taken aback by the energy they sensed when they started to focus.

"What the?" Bok said, startled. Choi steeled his gaze and was able to hide the uneasy feeling he had in the pit of his stomach. The commotion ended up waking Arugula up and she wiped her eyes, staring at her parents.

"Mama? Papa?" she asked and Cheelai glanced back. She sighed briefly, knowing that it'd take a while for her little girl to go back to sleep and she picked her up in her arms, bringing her to the window.

"Is Papa okay?" Arugula asked and Cheelai brushed the hair out of her face.

"Papa's fine, little one. His friend is fighting that strange man we saw earlier today at the restaurant."

"Mm," Arugula hummed and she stared out the window. She could see several lights from other rooms still on and could make out a bit of the skyline that still had a trickle of sunlight dimly lit over the background. She blinked for a moment as she stared outward.

"Mama, is that stranger lonely?" Arugula asked.

"Lonely?"

"Yeah, that stranger is by himself. He feels lonely," Arugula stated and Cheelai cocked an eyebrow.

"Many people who are by themselves tend to feel lonely sometimes," Cheelai said and Arugula looked up at Broly.

"Is Papa scared of the lonely man?" Arugula asked and Cheelai's eyes widened a bit. She set her back down on her bed and placed her neatly underneath the blanket again.

"You should get back to sleep, little one," she told her. Broly sighed and closed the curtains quickly, walking back to the bed he shared with Cheelai. Bok and Choi simply looked at each other and decided not to say anything about it. Choi closed his eyes and grinned again, thinking about his fight tomorrow and lied back down on his pillow with his hands behind his head. Bok stared at his brother for a moment and sighed before lying down on his side. Lemo finished cleaning up in the kitchen area and shut off the lights behind him and headed over to a sleeping bag set up for him on the floor near Arugula's bed.

"I had a weird dream about Pan-Pan and Mr. Bronto," Arugula said, looking up at her mother.

"What kind of dream?" Cheelai asked, glancing back at Broly, who was sitting length-wise on the bed but wasn't lying down on his pillow just yet. She frowned a bit, worried about that grim expression he wore on his face and turned back to her daughter.

"Mr. Bronto and Pan-Pan were playing out on that platform where she was playing with her friend Bulla but Pan-Pan's arm looked really weird. I saw red paint on Pan-Pan's face and she looked like she had trouble standing up. But when I saw Mr. Bronto's face, it wasn't Mr. Bronto's face at all."

Cheelai paused for a moment, staring down at Arugula. She began to feel a bit nervous hearing her daughter recount the details of her dream and brought the blanket up closer to her chin.

"You probably had a bad dream, little one. Here's Mr. Bronto. See his face? His face looks fine, right Mr. Bronto?"

"Oh you betcha, Miss Arugula. Mr. Bronto is happy to help you get your sleepies in," Cheelai said, speaking in a gruff voice she imitated for the stuffed dino she hovered over Arugula and Arugula chuckled a bit, smiling. She held out her arms and Cheelai brought the dino down for her to embrace and she closed her eyes, holding it tightly against her. Cheelai kissed Arugula on the forehead and brushed her hair aside to touch her cheek.

"Goodnight, little one. Mama and Papa love you lots, okay?" Cheelai said, flashing her OK sign. Arugula returned the sign as well and closed her eyes. Cheelai walked over to Broly and gave him a kiss on the lips, shutting off the lamp beside them. She climbed over him and turned off the other lamp and laid down on his lap, stroking his leg.

"Tell me if something's bugging you," she said in a quiet voice.

"I will," Broly said and eased himself down so his head could rest on his pillow. Cheelai adjusted herself so she could nuzzle up closer to him and had her hand on his chest now.

"Do you want to wait until tomorrow to talk about it, or after the Tournament is over?" she asked.

"Yes," was all Broly said and he closed his eyes. Cheelai sighed and wrapped her arms around his large beefy arm and closed her eyes.

"Okay, I won't rush you then," she said.

Elsewhere around the planet, those still gifted with the ability to sense the energy of others had to pause what they were doing and stare off in the distance at the source. Roshi wore a grim face as he walked out of his house and felt the ocean breeze blow against his beard. The sea turtle glanced up at him.

"Is this another sign of danger?" the turtle asked and Roshi hummed under his breath grimly.

"When is that boy not in danger when he fights someone?" he stated and lit up a pipe, taking a couple of puffs before breathing a sigh. It was all they could do but watch the rest of the sun set and welcome the starry skies.

Krillin and his team of officers were busy busting a robbery by a group of armed assailants when he paused and looked over the building for a moment.

"Chief, what's wrong?" asked one of the officers. Krillin wasn't paying attention. Instead, he took to the air to get a better view and it surprised a lot of the people below him.

"Waah! The Chief's flying!"

"When did the Chief get a jetpack?"

"I don't see a jetpack."  
"Did he get special rocket boots?"

"Well, he is friends with Capsule Corporation so maybe they gave him something to help him fly."

As the officers were busy conversing with each other, the robbers used this moment of confusion to dart off in all directions, much to the chagrin of the one rookie officer still paying attention.

"Hey! Hey! They're getting away! Anyone?" the rookie said and sighed, looking dejected.

Krillin swallowed and felt his heart pounding. _Goku, what did you get yourself into this time?_

The energy was even felt across the multiverse. On the new planet the Namekians had relocated to years ago, they had to pause and stare outward. The Namekian elders stopped all motions and stared outward without a word. They each gave each other a grim look and they sensed something was up.

Back in the Eleventh Universe, Jiren was searching a remote planet for Kelerot's whereabouts and stopped, glancing back with a frown on his face. He narrowed his eyes and turned to face the source of the disturbance and he clenched his fists.

In the First Universe, Awamo and Anat observed the Network of Fates, lines crisscrossing everywhere, some newly created while others suddenly stopped and shut down, fading to a grey color from their original white. There was a pattern of crisscrossing lines that looked odd to Awamo when he noticed them. As he examined it further, Anat noticed that his face became paler.

"Oh no…" Awamo whispered and Anat stared at him.

"Awamo? Is something the matter?," Anat said and Awamo zoomed the display onto a specific section.

"Something is happening to the Network of Fates," Awamo said.

"How is this a cause for concern?" Anat asked.

"I've zoomed in on this particular section here. The lines displayed here are beginning to converge into a spiral pattern leading upward. It's almost unnoticeable to anyone else but if you look closely, they've deviated from their present location by 0.01 percent."

"Is this bad?" Anat asked and Awamo nodded.

"Yes. They're converging to this."

Awamo programmed some codes into the Network and it brought up a holographic projection of where these specific lines are converging and Anat noticed that they began to spiral close together towards a strange black ball hovering high above the grid. The more Anat stared at the ball, the more uneasy he felt and looked back down at the projected lines spiraling upward towards it.

"What does this mean?" Anat asked.

"Who do the lines belong to?" Awamo asked the Network and images representing each line were put on display. Anat and Awamo were stunned to see Whis and Beerus's face appear.

"What the?" Anat gasped.

The other images were of Goku, Kelerot, and Vegeta, yet Vegeta's line broke off at some point and went in a different direction away from the spiral. As they looked at the direction the lines were going, they noticed that Beerus's line stopped at some point, and the only two lines left leading straight up to the black sphere were Goku's and Kelerot's.

"Is this a possible future scenario the Network's estimating?" Anat asked and Awamo frowned.

"As things stand," he said, shutting off the projection, "something is going to happen that could jeopardize Lord Beerus and the Supreme Kai of the Seventh Universe."

"Is there nothing we can do to prevent it?" Anat asked.

"Nothing intervenes with the Network of Fates without consequence," Awamo said and programmed another projection to superimpose itself onto the one he displayed earlier.

"It would not bode well for us if we intervened. I would cease to exist for violating my covenant and your life would be cut short and by extension Lord Iwen's by some unforeseen circumstance we would not be aware of yet," Awamo stated and Anat examined the projection a bit further.

"Can we not counsel the mortals to look into this and see if they can resolve this potential crisis?" Anat asked.

"It wouldn't matter," Awamo said and continued the simulation where many lines that were converging in the middle with the spiraling lines ended and faded away. He noticed Vegeta's line and it seemed to indicate something different.

"This mortal named Vegeta, there's something different about his fate line," Awamo noticed. "Begin simulation."

The new simulation ran Vegeta's line across the grid and it tied itself in with Kelerot's. The lines both faded and disappeared. The spiraling effect ended and faded as well.

"It seems Vegeta has an important role to play in this situation. Are there any other simulations that bring a similar result?" Awamo asked the Network and it cycled through millions of potential outcomes, each leading to the same foregone conclusion save that of Vegeta's. Anat and Awamo looked on as their faces grew more worried. What concerned them the most was that not even the involvement of the Omni Kings seemed to change the outcome of this.

"Take me to the realm of the Omni Kings, I have to inform the Grand Minister," Awamo said and shut off the Network display. He quickly left the room and Anat followed closely behind.

"What should I say to Lord Iwen?" Anat asked.

"I'll speak to him later about this discovery. Once you've returned here, continue conducting business with Lord Iwen as usual. Once the Grand Minister is made aware of this, we'll have to prepare for the inevitable and hope that the other scenario plays out."

"Understood," Anat said and placed his hand on the back of Awamo.

"Kai-Kai," Anat said and the two vanished to teleport directly to the realm of the Omni Kings.

On Lord Beerus's world, Vegeta was training with Whis when he stopped and his eyes widened in shock. Whis blinked a moment and paused as well.

"What the hell was that?" Vegeta said.

"Hm, that seems to be the mortal Goku is with," Whis stated.

"Why is Kakarot fighting him again?" Vegeta asked.

"Who knows? Do you wish to join in?" Whis asked and Vegeta crossed his arms. He powered out of his blue state and stared off at the source of the energy he was sensing.

"Don't be absurd. I don't butt in Kakarot's affairs unless it involves me directly."

"This other Saiyan from the Eleventh Universe seems a lot stronger than I initially assessed. Your brief scuffle with him involving Broly did pique my curiosity earlier," Whis said and Vegeta turned around to face him.

"I was surprised that Saiyans existed in the Sixth Universe when we first met Cabba. Now we know of the existence of even more of them from another universe," Vegeta said and Whis grinned, chuckling under his breath.

"Would you be surprised to know that all but two of the universes have a variation of the Saiyan race?" Whis said and Vegeta looked back at him, shocked.

"What?!"

"Each universe has a common species, yet the variations are as different as night and day. If you want to find out more, you should pay a visit to the Grand Archive on Lord Iwen's world. Every single event and life have been recorded since the dawn of creation. But not just Saiyans: Humans, Namekians, even Freeza's species have variations in not only our twin universes but elsewhere as well. You noticed there was a Yardratian from the second universe, remember?" Whis asked and Vegeta looked at the ground for a moment.

"It is curious that this Saiyan from the Eleventh Universe is skilled in fighting," Whis continued. "They're much like the Namekians of this universe: farmers and gatherers. They weren't meant to be fighters yet someone must've recently taught them the art of combat. It's also amusing that this Kelerot fellow refers to himself as a Saiyan when there's no official recording of the name in the Eleventh Universe section of the Grand Archive. He's a Gardenian."

"If they're not meant to be fighters, how did he get this strong? His power practically rivals Jiren's," Vegeta said and even coming to grips with that realization left an unsettled feeling in his gut.

"Despite physical differences between you and other universal variations of Saiyans, you still do share similar genetic traits. They may not have as strong of a desire to fight as you do, but they can become stronger after recovering from near-fatal injuries."

Vegeta was shocked when he heard this.

"But that's absurd! When did he find the time to grow this strong?" he asked.

"If we were to go back to when Lord Barbon was here, he did mention the prisoner escapee. This Kelerot fellow would have had some time to develop his power and grow strong to the point where he likely can stand toe-to-toe with not only him but Jiren as well."

Vegeta scowled at the ground. He began to pace around the trail beside the lake and crossed his arms.

 _If Kelerot is on equal measure with Jiren, none of those Pride Troopers are safe if he ever goes back there._

"Whis, what just woke me up from my nap?" Beerus chimed in, walking up to the two while rubbing his eyes and belting out a yawn. "I just started falling asleep."

"Apologies, my Lord. It would appear the Gardenian is currently engaged in a fight with Goku," Whis said and Beerus narrowed his eyes, becoming more alert this time.

"Is that so?" he said calmly. He was still in his bedroom robe when he walked over between Vegeta and Whis and stared outward with his hands behind his back.

"Goku's in trouble if he fights all out against him," Beerus said and Vegeta clenched his fists.

"Dammit, now I feel I've wasted time training here," Vegeta muttered.

"I wouldn't jump the gun so quickly, though," Whis stated and brought up a projection of Goku and Kelerot fighting.

"In sensing Kelerot's energy, I do not detect malicious intent towards Goku. He is showing a remarkable amount of fighting skill however," Whis said and Beerus cocked an eyebrow.

"Hmph, so the guy had an impressive teacher, big deal. Whis, ward my room against any further energy disturbances. Next time this happens I'm destroying whatever's the source of it," Beerus said and flew back up to his chambers. Vegeta stared at the fight still projected above Whis's staff and the uneasy feeling he had lingered.

"Kakarot shouldn't have lapsed on his training with that boy so much," he stated.

"He did confide in me that he was willing to sacrifice some of his time spent here to train Buu's reincarnation. He is aware of his current situation and aims to rectify that once he's confident in his protégé."

"If I were there instead, I'd have given Kelerot a much better fight," he said.

"It is entirely possible. You are on the verge of a remarkable breakthrough," Whis said with a grin on his face.

Vegeta gave him a look as the projection faded yet Whis didn't say anything further on the matter, only turning around to walk back up to the structure and used his staff to erect a barrier around it. Vegeta walked over to one of the pillars near the lake and sat on top of it, closing his eyes to focus on his meditation and mental training.

 **Present time…**

When Goku and Piccolo touched down on Papaya island, Goku wore a confident smile on his face, hands behind his head. Piccolo scoffed and smirked at him.

"Heh, you seem the least bit unnerved out of all of us. I think everyone across the multiverse felt Kelerot's power," he said.

"Yeah. But it's nothing we haven't faced before, remember?" Goku stated.

"Father!" Gohan cried out and he ran up to meet the two.

"Are you alright?" He asked and Goku flashed him a "V" with his fingers, chuckling.

"Your father's fine, he seemed to enjoy his fight with Kelerot immensely," Piccolo said and he waved at the two.

"I'm going to rest up for tomorrow. I hope Pan's prepared enough for her match," he said and Gohan frowned, staring at him.

"That kid I saw fight Trunks, he's one of Broly's kids, right?" he asked and Goku nodded.

"Yeah, he's really strong and incredibly fast. Trunks may have not been ready to fight him but I know Pan has a lot of skill to bring to this one."

Piccolo walked past the two of them. "See you in the morning."

"Good night, Piccolo," Gohan said and he was left alone with his father.

"Last time we were together like this you met Uub for the first time," Gohan said and Goku smiled.

"It was the best time I've ever had since the Tournament of Power," he said. Goku had a very excited look on his face and Gohan couldn't help but feel relaxed when he saw that expression.

"Should we be worried about this guy, father?" Gohan asked.

"He wasn't lying when he said he wouldn't harm any of us or the planet, I got that much from him. He's been through a lot of bad experiences and it's influenced a desire for revenge against the Pride Troopers. The only one who might still have a chance against him now is Jiren."

"Is he really that strong?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah. Strong, and very skilled. His energy control is even better than mine, it's scary thinking about it. Once this Tournament is over I'm leaving to see Lord Beerus and focus on my training seriously so I can catch up. As I am now, I know I wouldn't be able to defeat Kelerot, much less Jiren. I hate that I had to sacrifice all that time to train Uub but I knew it was for a good reason. Uub's way stronger as he is now than when he was Majin Buu."

"So he really is Buu reborn?" Gohan asked and Goku grinned.

"Yeah. He has all of Buu's power but all of the evil had been cleansed from him for good."

Gohan and Goku began walking down the sidewalk that was overlooked by the main building that housed the contestant waiting area and the large fighting platform. Gohan had his hands in his pockets and Goku resumed with his hands behind his head.

"Do you think Uub will be okay against Buu?" Gohan asked, but Goku didn't say anything, he only smiled back at him as he glanced to his side at his son. Gohan felt that this was a look of reassurance when he saw his father smile like that and didn't say nor ask anything else on the matter.

 **Capsule Corporation…**

Bulma put the finishing touches on a chassis that was concealed underneath a large thick blanket. She stood back up and turned to New 16, who had stood by handing her tools when she asked for them. She wiped her brow and extinguished a cigarette in its ash tray and 16 took notice.

"I have detected a twenty percent reduction in lung capacity due to your ongoing tobacco and nicotine consumption," he said, looking at her.

"Yeah yeah, I know, it's a bad habit I picked up. And I'll spare you looking at my breasts thank you very much," Bulma said, closing her jacket around her, zipping it up. She hooked up 16's head to the computer on the table near the worktable that had the blanket on top and she began entering a few codes.

"What have you been working on?" New 16 asked.

"Your new body. I used Bulla's schematics for your current model and was able to cross-reference that with the blueprints from your old model. You should look mostly like what you used to though your new body will have a more streamlined appearance and not be as bulky as it was before."

"I am not the same as my previous model, Doctor Bulma," New 16 said and Bulma lit up another cigarette. "Smoking within two minutes after the previous one will shorten your lung capacity another 0.24 percent. Your risk of contracting lung cancer has increased 0.85 percent since my last scan."

"I don't care about your estimates, I only care that you're fully functional. Now shut up and let me work on your data transfer," Bulma said and she shut him down. His eyes shut off and were showing blank slots where his irises would've been and she breathed a sigh of relief, albeit coughing a couple times from the cigarette smoke. She scoffed and extinguished the freshly lit cigarette in the ashtray.

"Damn you," she muttered and began the transfer, which given the large amount of data, would take up a couple of days to calculate and make the needed modifications for the upgrade. Her father entered the room with a thermos in his hand, setting it down near Bulma.

"I brought you coffee, dear," Dr. Briefs said and Bulma grinned up at him.

"Thanks, dad," she said and poured herself a cup.

"The new body's completed?" he asked, walking over to peek underneath the blanket.

"Yeah. Just routine stuff from now on and he'll be up and running by dinnertime tomorrow," Bulma said, yawning and stretching.

"How did they do at the Tournament today?" he asked and Bulma leaned on her hand. She took another sip of her cup and set it down. Dr. Briefs lit up a cigarette and Bulma took one from his pack, lighting it up herself.

"As well as you'd expect. Bulla and Pan put up a great fight but she lost by ring out. Trunks didn't even put up a fight against Broly's kid and he was knocked out as soon as the gong rang. I feel I might be to blame for all the stress I've been putting him through. He's off to spend time with Goten and Marron on 17's island."

"I came to let you know that I might have stumbled upon a breakthrough in our research," Dr. Briefs said and Bulma's eyes widened a bit.

"Are you sure?"

"Not entirely sure but it's worth a try. If the calculations are correct, our infinite engine core should be a success."

Bulma couldn't contain her excitement.

"Dad, that's great! I can't believe we'll achieve our own version of the technology that Dr. Gero invented!" she cried out and hugged her father. She almost felt like crying but instead took another sip from her cup and patted New 16's head.

"To think we spent years trying to replicate Gero's work and failing so many times only to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I pray we finally get this to work."

"Go get some sleep, Bulma, I'll finish up here," Dr. Briefs told her and she finished her cup. It wasn't going to keep her awake for much longer but she did enjoy the dark roast flavor her father brewed up. She closed the thermos tightly again and set it aside, extinguishing her cigarette in the ashtray that had built up quite the collection of butts and half-smoked cigarettes from hers and Dr. Briefs's packs. She stretched and left the room. Her communicator watch beeped and she turned it on to show Bulla's face on the display.

"Hey mama, I wasn't sure if you were still up or not," Bulla said.

"No worries, just finishing up some work that took up a lot of my time. How are things so far over there?"

"Well, Goku was off fighting that strange guy who looked like a monkey. If you could feel his energy, you'd be knocked on your butt before you even knew what hit you!"

"Goku was fighting again? Sheesh, when will he ever take a break for once?" Bulma said, sighing and she began a coughing fit that caused Bulla to look at her with a bit of worry.

"You're not getting sick, are you? Please don't overwork yourself mama, you're not as young as you used to be," Bulla said and Bulma twitched when she heard that, glaring at the screen with a smirk on her face.

"I'll be fine," Bulma said. _And you'll be grounded first thing when you get back home._

"Well, if you say so. Good night, mama!" Bulla said and shut her screen off. Bulma closed her communication watch and walked down to her room with her hands in her coat pocket.

 **Bulla and Pan's room…**

After Bulla shut off her communicator, one of the apps on her watch began to beep and she looked at it.

"What is it?" Pan asked, glancing over her shoulder. The girls had changed into their pajamas and were sitting on the same bed for the time being. Pan was still brushing her hair after she had finished her bath and waited for Bulla to shut off the light so they could get to sleep.

"My dragon radar's going off," Bulla said and brought up a holographic projection of the planet with seven blinking lights indicating the Dragonballs. Pan's eyes lit up as she looked at it.

"So that's the Dragon Radar you said you built a few months ago?" Pan asked, looking at the lights more closely.

"Yeah, you can see that we have two Dragonballs in storage back home but I'm seeing two more together and they look like they're on the move to a third one several hundred miles east of their location."

Pan couldn't hold back her excitement and Bulla felt it as well. They looked at each other with huge smiles on their faces.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Pan?" Bulla asked.

"Are you kidding? I can't waste this opportunity!" Pan replied and Bulla closed the app.

"When the Tournament's over, we should start looking for the Dragonballs and make a wish for ourselves!" Bulla cried out and the girls held their hands together.

"What should we wish for?" Pan asked. Bulla was going to answer but came up blank.

"I, I don't know," Bulla said and Pan chuckled a bit.

"I wish I could travel anywhere in the universe, unhindered by the vacuum of space," Pan said and Bulla's eyes widen.

"Wow, that's a pretty big wish."

"What about you, Bulla? There has to be something you'd want more than anything," Pan said and Bulla blushed a bit.

"I don't know if I should tell you," Bulla said, her cheeks flush and red. "I'm kinda embarrassed to say this out loud."

"Please, tell me! I promise I won't laugh, whatever it is."

"Well, okay. I kind of want the dragon to give me a boyfriend," Bulla said and Pan stared at her for a moment, stunned. Then she let out a loud squeal and gripped Bulla's hands tightly. Bulla covered Pan's mouth quickly, face full of panic.

"Not so loud! You'll wake up the others in the hotel!" Bulla said in a loud whisper. She lowered her hand and glanced to the side.

"I can't wait to see that happen. You and your boyfriend, me and Uub together on so many double dates. Not even your dad would be upset. He'd stand proud and proclaim that his daughter chose the best man to gain his blessing and become her new husband when she reaches of age!" Pan cried out and Bulla gritted her teeth, her face growing redder as Pan spoke.

"Oh shut up! You made it sound like a stupid idea now," Bulla said and walked off the bed.

"I'm kidding, Bulla, don't take it so personally," Pan said and sat on the edge of the bed. Bulla stared back at her.

"I hope you didn't get the silly idea that I had rebuilt Android 16 to be a boyfriend, because he's not," Bulla said and Pan's smile faded.

"Bulla, why would I think you'd build a robot to be your boyfriend?"

"I don't know, I thought you'd think I was some weirdo friend who obsesses over robots and machines so much," Bulla said, hugging herself. She couldn't hide the embarrassment on her face and Pan pursed her lips, glancing down at the floor.

"Being alone a lot really sucks. Every time I try to talk to a boy I liked, papa was always there to give them that look of his and they'd run off. Sometimes when we'd go shopping he'd make sure none of the older kids would approach me, even though I did like the attention I was getting. Sometimes I'd see older boys try to take advantage of me but then I'd punch them in the gut and they fall over. Now I can't go out in public without all the boys avoiding me because I've built up such a reputation for being stronger than them and having an overprotective father. Papa wants me to focus on training first before I go out with anyone. Honestly, I kinda want a nice quiet smart boy who can help build things with me and work on cool projects. Goten was the only really strong boy that I liked a lot now that I think about it."

"You had a crush on uncle Goten?" Pan asked. "I didn't know that."

"Well, I was still very little and hadn't fully started learning how to fight yet but yeah, your uncle was really cute and he had this cute smile he'd always have when we played together."

"I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time with your crush on Choi," Pan said and Bulla's face regained its composure.

"I'm done with that kid. His brother's way nicer than he is and I hope he talks some sense into him before he does something stupid tomorrow."  
"Well, Bok is his twin brother, you could probably go on a date with him after the Tournament. Maybe ask him to tag along and find the Dragonballs together. The four of us searching the globe and getting a wish. I know! The biggest bowl of ice cream you could ever imagine! With four spoons!"

"Make it with strawberries and chocolate fudge and you got yourself a wish," Bulla said and the two exchanged a handshake while giggling. Pan dived into her own bed and shut the lamp off, her head hitting the pillow with a smile on her face, licking her lips as she pictured the giant sundae in her head. Bulla sat up for a moment before she slid down under the sheets and shut off her table lamp before falling asleep.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 – "'Fight back, Uub!' Goku's stern words of confidence ignite the fire in his young student."**

 **A long painstaking search…**

"Did you find it yet?" Pilaf asked as he watched his subordinate Shu climb up the trunk of a tall tree. An old model of the dragon radar that he had been able to swipe from Bulma's lab allowed him and Shu to begin searching for the Dragonballs once more, yet the two that were stored away at Capsule Corporation would have to wait until some other time after they had gathered the other five that were still scattered across the globe.

Pilaf felt a finger poke him on the top of his head and he tried to ignore it as much as possible but the finger poking was getting more aggravating and painful with each poke pressing down even harder.

"Will you cut that out, Bao?!" Pilaf screamed at his new assistant, an large round man with a droopy face that leered downward, the look of a simpleton to Pilaf's eyes, but his ability to showcase great feats of strength meant his brawn was of much use to him. A new hired hand to make up for the absence of Mai meant that his search for the Dragonballs wouldn't be as difficult as he initially surmised, yet Bao seemed to be even more problematic due to his slow-witted nature.

"What are we searchin' for again, boss?" Bao asked, and shoved the same finger he poked Pilaf with up his nose to "dig around". Pilaf felt disgusted that that very finger touched his head and he sneered at Bao.

"The Dragonballs. Don't tell me you forgot already?" Pilaf asked and Bao pulled his finger out, trying to flick the "nugget" off. He had a bit of a doofy smile when he showed happiness and ignored the nugget on his finger for the moment.

"Oh yeah. Dragonballs. Er, what are Dragonballs again, boss?"

Pilaf almost fell on his back and glared at him.

"You can't seriously make me believe that you forgot my simplest explanation again?! And stop picking your nose so much!" Pilaf yelled.

"Lord Pilaf! I found it!" Shu cried out from the top of the tree. He managed to spot the Dragonball tucked away in a bird's nest among other eggs of a similar color and he almost fell off the branch he was sitting on due to the difficult nature of the nest's placement, forcing him to reach out to grab it while holding onto the branch for balance. Pilaf ignored Bao for the moment and looked up at Shu with a huge grin on his face.

"Yes! Excellent work as always, Shu!" He yelled and Shu let the Dragonball fall down for Pilaf to grab. Bao instead reached out with his hand and caught the ball as it fell before it could reach Pilaf and he looked at it.

"Pretty," he said, looking at the three red stars inside the orange crystal-like sphere. Pilaf jumped up to try and grab it but due to Bao's size and height, he was quite out of reach unless Pilaf had some sort of step-ladder to even get up to the large oaf's chest.

"Bao, that Dragonball is mine! Give it to me now!" Pilaf yelled and Bao glanced down.  
"Oh, right. Sorry boss. Here," he said, dropping the ball and Pilaf caught it. He then reacted with disgust as the "nugget" that was on Bao's finger got stuck to the Dragonball instead and he wanted to drop the ball, but the sticky substance glued his hand to the ball and he began to panic, running around trying to shake it off his hand, yelling.

"Shu, GET THIS THING OFF ME!" Pilaf screamed and Shu quickly took the ball, pulling it off Pilaf's hand.

A few moments later, Shu had cleaned off the gunk with water from a nearby stream and Pilaf was busy observing the dragon radar to locate the next ball. Bao meanwhile was staring up at the sky and saw a flash of light streak by.

"Uh, hey boss?" Bao asked.

"Not now, Bao, I'm busy tracking the next Dragonball," Pilaf stated, not looking at him.

"Something fell from the sky, is that another Dragonball?"

Pilaf broke from looking at the radar to the sky for a moment but didn't see anything out of the ordinary other than clear blue skies with a few clouds floating aimlessly to the east and he stared back up at Bao. He sighed, figuring it wasn't worth chastising him and studied the radar a bit more.

"How far is the next Dragonball, Lord Pilaf?" asked Shu as he placed the cleaned Dragonball in the bag that was slung around Bao's shoulder. It clinked against the other two they found earlier and he could see the 2-star and 5-star balls together, adding the 3-star ball to the growing collection.

"Too far by foot, we'll need to get our hands on an aircraft," Pilaf informed him and passed the radar back to Shu. They stole a capsule for an aircraft earlier when they took the radar, but upon finding the second Dragonball, they ran into a group of desert pirates who smashed it beyond repair. If it weren't for Bao, they likely would've lost not only the Dragonball they found, but their very lives as well. They had spent the last few months since then on foot, eating off the land as Shu did what he could to cook and clean up after the two. He glanced back at the bag with the Dragonballs inside and sighed.

"I miss Mai. I know she would've gotten us another aircraft," Shu said and Pilaf stamped up towards him, glaring up at him.

"Don't ever say that name again! She's ancient history and we don't need her!" Pilaf cried out but Shu could tell that there was still a lot of hurt in those eyes when he looked at him. Pilaf did care a lot about his subordinates, even if they seldom succeeded in following his instructions. That he wanted to forget about Mai for the time being meant that Shu had to be extra careful not to even bring up anything remotely resembling her, much less her name.

Elsewhere, the light that blared through the sky crashed at a far away location up in the north mountains where the weather was cold and the landscape was covered in a blanket of snow. There was a ship that had melted the snow away with the heat that it radiated and the hatch opened. The two that emerged from the craft and looked around the area were the bio-androids Freeza and Cooler sent to Earth.

"Is this the planet Uncle Freeza assigned us to?" said Glacial.

"Indeed it is. We've arrived on Earth," Tundra informed her. They had left Freeza Planet 31's secret laboratory three days ago and with the aid of Tsufurian technology, their ship was the fastest in the universe.

"We must begin our search. We might find one of Goku's associates eventually," Tundra said.

"Shall we draw him out to ask where to find these Dragonballs?" Glacial replied.

Tundra grinned. "There is no rush to engage Son Goku directly. We must prioritize finding the Dragonballs and destroy them once they have been all gathered Uncle Freeza instructed."

"Agreed," Glacial said. "We have the proper data on what they look like so we should scout this area first before expanding outward. If we find one of Son Goku's friends or family, we'll kill them immediately."

Tundra grinned. "Of course. But only after we've extracted information about the location of the Dragonballs first."

The two began their search, walking around the area.

 **A restless sleep…**

Bulla's hair was matted to the shape of the pillow as she woke up. It had been a little all over the place as she slept and groggily woke up to the sounds of grunting and heavy breathing. She rubbed her eyes to get some focus into her eyesight and saw Pan fully awake, moving around in the room throwing punches and kicks.

"Pan, what are you doing? Go back to sleep," Bulla said and Pan stopped with a fist in the air.

"There's no time to rest, I have to be prepared to take that brat down," she said and began moving more slowly, making smooth motions with her arms and legs as she paced herself around the room with fluid movements. She took a deep breath and sat down cross-legged in a meditative position and closed her eyes. She pressed her fists together and steadied her breathing, focusing her energy as she began to float up in the air.

Bulla groaned a bit as she walked out of the bed to the bathroom and gasped when she saw her hair in the mirror. She sighed as she leaned against the sink, looking at her face.

"How's a girl supposed to get her beauty sleep from all that excitement the night before?" Bulla asked herself groggily. She smoothed out her hair as best she could and was annoyed at how some of it was still awkwardly hanging in front of her face. She blew it away with a puff of air from her mouth and decided to get dressed.

"Well, since I'm now a spectator, I guess something casual and fun should suffice," Bulla said and took out a capsule which popped open a large wardrobe that had all the outfits Bulla packed for her trip and that caught Pan's attention as she opened her eyes and almost fell down on the floor. She gaped at the selection of outfits Bulla had in her wardrobe.

"Now what to wear," Bulla said, sifting through dresses, pants, shirts, shorts, and a pair of denim overalls that she eyed for a bit longer, thinking this might work for the day. She took it off the hangar and picked out a shirt that matched it and whatever else she needed and went off into the bathroom for a while to fix herself up.

Pan was still amazed at all the clothing Bulla had but shook her head. "Focus Pan, think about this after the Tournament's over."

Her thoughts began to turn towards Uub and she glanced at the door to the hallway outside.

"Bulla! I'm going to see Uub, okay?" Pan called out and walked out of the room.

She felt a mix of emotions as she walked down the hallway, remembering back to last night when she kissed him on the cheek. She didn't plan on doing it, but by reflex, she felt this was something she wanted to do and went through with it anyway. She smiled as she walked over to his room, picturing his face with that smile of his and imagining him with his arms raised in victory and being awarded a large trophy by the announcer. She then imagined him being carried on the shoulders of Goku and Piccolo and they paraded him around the island while her parents showered him with praise. The look of embarrassment on his face as he blushed red made her giggle and she almost walked past the door to Uub's room. She looked down at herself for a moment, hoping she'd at least be presentable enough given that she had decided not to bother changing out of her fighting gi and spent the early hours of the morning warming up for her match today.

She knocked on the door and waited a few moments. She frowned and knocked again.

"Uub?" she called, waiting for an answer. When a few seconds went by and silence was all that was greeting her, she checked the door and found that it wasn't even locked.

"Uub? I'm coming in," she said, opening the door. She looked around the room and noticed that the curtains were closed, obscuring the sunlight from outside. There was still enough of it to peek through, surrounding the wall with a faint yellowish hue from the morning sun and she walked around the room, looking for Uub but her face began to show a bit of worry when there was no sign of him.

"Uub? Are you still here? Say something if you still are," she called out and waited again for an answer. She sighed and began to focus her energy to sense where he had gone to and gapsed when she saw a silhouette in the corner that she hadn't seen earlier.

Uub was sitting in the corner of the room, his body out of the light, blended in the shadow. She walked up to him and as examined him closely, she could see that he looked incredibly tired and gaunt as he stared up at her.

"You look terrible! What happened?" Pan asked, kneeling down.

"I couldn't sleep," Uub said quietly. She led him to the bed and he sat down on the end of it.

"Oh no…how are you supposed to fight Buu like this?" Pan asked and Uub stared down at the floor.

"I haven't had a good night's sleep since I left the lookout. Ever since I saw what I used to be, what this 'body' used to be, I've been having terrible nightmares. I can't get these memories out of my head and I don't understand why I'm having them."

"Uub, you're going to be fine. They're just bad memories and bad dreams. Grandpa assured us that you have what it takes to fight hard and be the best fighter you can be. Don't let these shake you up so much," Pan said and Uub looked at her, panic in his face.

"I can't stop them from coming! It's even worse every time I look at Buu now! When I see him, I see this other face, this horrible monster that wears my skin and has done terrible things to innocent people. I don't know why I'm remembering things I've never done before yet it feels as though I did and it's driving me crazy!"

Uub stood up and walked over to a mirror that hung on the wall overlooking a dresser and he could see the bags under his eyes and dark circles from lack of sleep. Pan grabbed his hand and put her other hand on his shoulder, looking up at him.

"Sometimes I look at my reflection and lately it feels like I'm not even looking at me anymore. I see a different face staring back at me and I'm scared to look back now," Uub said as he turned to face away. Pan could feel his hands shaking and he took a couple steps in front of her.

"I can't do it, Pan. I can't fight Buu. Please ask them to switch our matches so I can fight Choi instead," he said and Pan sighed.

"You know they can't do that, Uub," Pan said and reached up to touch his face with her hand, drawing it towards hers.

"Look at me. Focus on my face," Pan said and Uub blinked a few times.

"Pan, I-I'm scared," Uub said and Pan nodded.

"I'm scared too. I know I want to beat up that brat but seeing how easily he defeated Trunks it does make me worry about fighting him but I gotta keep going and see what it is I can do. I can't give up, and neither should you. I believe in you, Uub. I have faith that you will be the best fighter in this tournament and nothing will stop you."

Uub grinned a bit as he stared at her and she couldn't help but blush a bit.

"You've been a really great friend, Pan," Uub said and Pan blushed even more.

"You too," she said and grabbed his hands.

"Come and get something to eat, it'll clear you mind for your match. Promise me that no matter what happens today, win or lose, you'll get your butt in bed and get some actual sleep," Pan said and Uub chuckled a bit.

"Yes, I will. I promise," he said and the two walked out of the room to head to the restaurant for an early breakfast. The two could sense that Goku and a few others were already there and Bulla joined up with them, with her outfit picked out for the day and her hair tied back in a ponytail with a red ribbon. Pan was amazed at how pretty she made herself look and felt jealous that Bulla was a natural at making herself look amazing and wanted her to teach her how to doll herself up like that as well.

After a long session of breakfast, Pan took Piccolo aside and spoke to him privately.

"You're worried about Uub," Piccolo said and Pan nodded.

"I've never seen him this scared before, Uncle. I'm worried he'll make a huge mistake during his match," she said and Piccolo sighed grimly.

"He knew the risk of learning the truth about himself," he said.

"I know. That's got to be the worst thing to live with," Pan said and glanced back at Uub, who was busy chatting with Goku, who was all smiles. She frowned as she spotted Choi but ignored him for now.

"You were saying that he can somehow remember past memories that weren't his?" Piccolo asked her and she nodded.

"Yeah. He's been having nightmares a lot because of it. I thought the ones he was having during our time in the Chamber was merely hallucinations due to the nature of the place but I didn't think it was going to be this bad. Even before then during our strength training, I sometimes saw him crying in his sleep, grimacing as though he witnessed something horrible happen. I was afraid to wake him up not knowing what I'd expect but the next day he'd be his usual cheerful self eager to help around the village."

"This is disturbing news," Piccolo said. "When an evil spirit is reincarnated, all the evil is cleansed first and all trace of memory wiped. Yet when Goku made the request to King Yemma for Buu to be reincarnated, I'm starting to suspect that because of how pure Buu's evil energy was that it wasn't completely cleansed and I'm worried there may still be a speck that remained that is causing these memories to resurface in Uub's deep subconscious."

"What? Does that mean Uub might lose control and revert back to what he was before?" Pan said, her voice beginning to shake.

"Doubtful," Piccolo said, shaking his head. "I'm only speculating here but in time Uub will eventually live with this and accept that who he was is ancient history. He gained Buu's power but not his evil aura. Continue to be there for him and encourage him without worrying about these memories."

"Okay," Pan said, nodding. She walked back to join up with Uub and Goku and Piccolo stood back, staring at Uub, frowning. _I might have to speak to Dende after the Tournament._

Goku escorted Pan and Uub to the entrance of the building where the competitors would gather and he put his hand on their shoulders.

"You both have very strong opponents to fight. Do your best and keep your minds focused," he said. Uub paused for a moment and didn't want Goku to see his hand shaking a bit. He quickly put it behind him out of sight. He looked up and gave Goku a small grin.

"I will Master," Uub said. It wasn't an entirely honest answer on his part and he was afraid Goku would see through it but instead he smiled his usual smile and began to run off, waving at them.

"Have fun and fight hard!" he called out to them before he was out of their sight. Pan reached around Uub to take his shaking hand and she squeezed it.

"Don't worry about what happens today," she said. It bared repeating often on her part but she could still see signs of restlessness in Uub's face as he glanced down at her. He did manage to eat well despite the lack of sleep and Goku was too busy with his own food to really notice what was bothering Uub so much.

"I'm going to let him down, I just know it," Uub said and Pan frowned, staring up at him.

"Don't say that. Don't lose hope, you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. I know this because of how much more effort I have to put into my attack and defense whenever we spar. You're on a whole different level than Bulla and myself combined. I have an easier time sparring with her and Uncle Piccolo than I do with either you or grandpa."

Uub nodded. She tapped him a couple of times on the chest and gave him a more reassuring smile.

"Take a deep breath, shake those nerves out and win that fight, you got it?" she said and began walking into the building.

Uub stood for a moment, but he did take a deep breath and calmed himself down. He didn't notice Kelerot staring at him from the top of a building, however, and Kelerot was looking at him with his arms crossed.

"He'll defeat himself if he doesn't defeat his opponent at this rate," he said quietly and flew down to the ground to walk over to the stadium so he could join the crowd to watch the fights unfold.

When Uub and Pan entered the competitor's waiting area, Pan frowned when she saw Choi leaning up against a wall. His wrists and ankles were taped up and he glared at Pan with a menacing smile, figuring to get in some early intimidation before their match. She glared back with equal determination. Uub could see Buu performing some light exercises and stretches (not that he ever needed to stretch in the first place), and had his usual grin, but it widened when he spotted Uub and Pan and walked over to them.

"You're my opponent today," Buu said.

"Yeah. Um, good luck in our match?" Uub replied, extending his hand nervously. Buu took Uub's hand in both of his gloved hands and shook it up and down.

"I'm happy to fight someone with familiar energy," Buu said and walked back to his spot. He popped open a capsule from under his outfit and a picnic appeared. He wanted to get in a quick meal before the fight started and Uub decided to ignore it for now. He and Pan walked over to the sign blocking most of the view from the auditorium so the spectators couldn't see the fighters very well and looked around to see if they could locate Goku and the others.

"Ah, there they are," Pan said, pointing to the west side of the stands. She saw Goku sit with her parents, sandwiched between Gohan and Bulla, who had Arugula sit beside her with the stuffed dinosaur in her hands. Bok, Cheelai, Broly, and Lemo were all together in their seats, while Piccolo was standing further upward, keeping his distance as usual yet still be able to watch the matches. She could sense Kelerot's energy as well as he too stood by himself watching the activity below, yet he wasn't really looking at anything specific. She still felt a great deal of suspicion about him, wondering what his motive really was.

"Why is that guy still here? I really wish he'd go away," Pan said, staring at Kelerot. When he stared back at her, she felt for a brief moment an intense aura about him and quickly looked away.

"The way Master Goku was talking about him during breakfast he seemed like he wasn't a bad person. I noticed his voice was sounding more excited as he was describing his fight with him yesterday and I'm kind of glad to see him this happy."

Pan sighed. "Well at least one of us is sure of themselves."

The announcer was seen walking up the steps to the stage and raised his microphone to the air to get the crowd's attention. The local band began playing their fighting song to rile up the crowd and get them cheering loudly as a few fireworks popped in the air, signifying the start of the semi-finals of the Tournament.

"Thank you all for coming! Are you excited to see the semi-finals?!" he shouted to the crowd and they roared with cheers in response.

Buu's fan club rallied and cheered on, waving their flags with Buu's face on it and waving signs that drowned out the sight of those unfortunate to be sitting behind them and a few were yelling at them to sit down but they ignored them.

"What do we want?"

"For Buu to win!"

"When do we want it?"

"ALL THE TIME!"

"Who will be the new champion?"

"BUU! BUU! BUU! BUU!"

Ongoing chants of "Buu! Buu!" resonated across the whole crowd now as the fan club got most of them to join in with them and both Goku and Gohan were a little beside themselves as they saw this.

"I had no idea Buu was this popular, dad," Gohan said and Goku couldn't help but chuckle.

"Everyone wants Buu to take over after Hercule retired," Goku replied. Videl was a bit annoyed by that remark and stared at him.

"I hope you're not getting the idea of cheering for Buu when our little Pan and Uub should be the ones we need to support," Videl said and Gohan raised his hands.

"Relax, we're fully behind Pan and Uub."

"Hmph, I hope so," Videl said and stood up.

"Come on Uub! Come on Pan! Win this and get that championship title!" she shouted and a few around her glared at her and began to laugh.

"Buu can't lose, he never does! Only Hercule has ever beat him to keep his title!" said one of them and she glared at him, balling her hands into fists.

"Videl, I-I think you should sit down," Gohan said and Videl glared at the man with a smile.

"When my baby girl mops the floor with Buu you're going to eat those words!" she said and Gohan stood up, trying to get between the two.

"Sorry sir, my wife can get a bit excited during these events," he told him. He glanced back at Videl.

"Please don't antagonise anyone, we all want to have a good time, don't we?" Gohan said and Videl crossed her arms as she plopped herself back down on her seat, staring at the man who looked back uncomfortably and resumed chanting Buu's name a moment later. Gohan sighed as he sat back down.

Piccolo stared at the competitor's area and could see part of Uub's head beside Pan. He glanced to the side and could spot Kelerot observing the crowd with his hands behind his back and locked eyes with Gohan for a moment before staring back at the stadium, waiting for the announcer to call out Uub and Buu for their match.

"Our first exciting semi-final match is coming up shortly as your favorite to be the new champion, Buu, is set to fight off against contestant Uub, who gave us a stunning display of fighting prowess in the quarterfinals!"

Another roar of cheers and Buu chants resounded and the announcer raised his microphone to the air again before speaking.

"So let's not keep you waiting any longer! Contestant Buu and contestant Uub, come on out to the fighting stage, please!"

Pan grabbed Uub by the arm and stared up at him, looking squarely at him in the eyes.

"I believe in you," she said and Uub blushed. Buu was already up and walking towards the sign when he walked past Uub and out to the roaring crowd who went even louder now that they could see their fan-favorite. Uub swallowed and began walking out himself a few steps behind Buu, keeping a bit of distance as he made his way to the steps.

"'I believe in you?' That's the best pep-talk you could give that loser?" Choi said behind Pan and she spun around to glare at him. He walked up to her and stood at the opposite side of the arch, staring ahead. She turned her head to ignore him and stared at the fighting stage as Uub climbed up the steps to stand on the opposite side of the stage, facing Buu.

Pan clasped her hands together. "Please don't lose your nerve, Uub."

"Tch, I don't know what's got your boyfriend so spooked but he's a bundle of nerves right now. You sure he's a competent fighter?" Choi said and Pan glared at him again, baring her teeth.

"Shut your trap, brat! Uub's a great fighter, stronger than you'll ever be!"

"Uh huh," Choi said, nonplussed, and he leaned up against the archway wall, staring outward.

"This should be a laugh; I can't wait to see how fast Uub gets knocked off the stage."

Pan clenched her fists. She wanted to deck this kid so hard but knew that he was trying to provoke her into fighting him and risk disqualification. She steeled herself so she wouldn't lose her resolve and continue hoping Uub would come through and regain his composure.

Uub nervously bowed at Buu before glancing around the crowd, who was firmly behind Buu. He spotted Goku again and Goku waved at him with his arms in the air, cupping them to his mouth.

"You got this, Uub! Stay focused and fight hard!" He shouted. Uub gave him a weak nod. Because his heart was pounding so much, it drowned out the crowd and that was the only thing Uub could hear now. He began to feel dazed from his nervousness and the sound of the announcer grew more distant and muffled. His vision felt a bit blurry now as Buu looked more out of focus. Uub felt like he was going to faint, not only from being so nervous, but also from lack of sleep.

"What's wrong with Uub, Sissy?" Arugula asked, tugging at her shirt. Bulla stared at Uub for a moment and sighed.

"Pan said he didn't sleep last night," she said and Arugula tilted her head a bit.

"Is Uub afraid of something?" Arugula asked. She brought her stuffed dinosaur to her ear and nodded.

"Mr. Bronto says he could sense a lot of fear from Uub too. But why would you say that Pan-Pan is scared too, Mr. Bronto?" Arugula said and Bulla glanced down.

"Wait, really? Why would Pan be scared? Scared of what?" Bulla asked and Arugula shrugged her shoulders. She looked at Mr. Bronto and shrugged again.

"Mr. Bronto doesn't know, but he can tell Pan-Pan is scared of something," she said and Bulla rolled her eyes a bit.

"Great, this is going to go well. I know we should cheer for Pan, but I don't mind if you want to cheer for your brother when he fights," Bulla said and Arugula shook her head.

"Nuh uh, I want Pan-Pan to win," Arugula said with a smile on her face and Bulla blushed. _So cute._

The sound of the drums quieted the crowd as the tempo began to build up and the crowd eagerly awaited the gong to start the match. Uub was still staring off in the distance, his heart pounding like crazy, several beats faster than the pounding of the drums. They almost synced up at one point when the drumming began to intensify and move faster. Buu tilted his head from side to side to the beat of the drums, eager to start the match and he couldn't really tell Uub's state of mind for the moment yet noticed that Uub wasn't really taking up a fighting stance at all. Gohan pointed that out to Goku as well.

"Hey dad, shouldn't Uub put up a fighting position so he doesn't get knocked off guard?" Gohan said and Goku raised an eyebrow.

He crossed his arms. "You're right. Why hasn't he heightened up his energy yet?"

When the drumming stopped and the gong rang, Buu immediately went on the offensive, flying towards Uub with a punch ready to hit him. Uub was still spaced out as he stared ahead.

"Uub, look out in front of you!" Goku yelled and Uub came to his senses when he heard his voice. His eyes widened and he narrowly dodged Buu's fist, forcing him to take a few steps back. He almost lost his balance as he reached the edge of the stage and wobbled back and forth to keep himself from falling off. Uub looked around shakily and saw Buu coming at him again with another punch that he had to dodge again. Buu was going a bit faster now and Uub was forced to block each blow. Uub started gaining speed as he blocked the blows a lot more and the two danced around the stage, Uub on the defensive.

"Steady, Uub! Find an opening!" Goku shouted and Gohan crossed his arms.

"I'm getting a bad feeling," he said.

"Uub will be fine, trust me," Goku said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. This is his first big test after all," Goku said and watched the match continue on. Gohan frowned, not feeling as confident. He glanced back at Piccolo who nodded back at him, catching onto this feeling as well.

"What's with the kid? He's way more shaken up than when he was fighting Bok," Lemo stated and Bok glanced at him.

"I don't know, Uncle. He was a bit nervous fighting me earlier, but then again so was I since that was my first real fight."

"He doesn't want to fight him," Broly piped in and the family looked up at him.

"I'll say," Lemo said. "Maybe he's seen a scarier version of Buu when he was younger and developed a phobia."

"He's going to lose if he can't get a hold of himself," Bok said and Broly nodded. Cheelai stared down at the stage and sighed.

"Guess we'll wait and see how long this fiasco lasts until we get to the other match," she said, her face looking a bit disappointed. She seemed to like the kid when she saw him a few times but this complete lack of confidence as he was fighting Buu was painful to watch.

Buu stayed back a moment and fired off energy blasts at Uub, who dodged them wildly as he moved to avoid them. He paused a moment and looked around.

"C'mon Uub, get a grip. Focus like Master said," he told himself and shook the nerves out of his hands. He took up a bit of a fighting stance and breathed deeply. He charged straight at Buu and Goku's eyes widened a bit.

"No Uub, a direct attack doesn't work against Buu," he said and watched as Uub went in for a punch that was easily knocked away by Buu and the two began knocking fists against each other.

"He's not using Buu's body to his advantage," Gohan said. Gohan could still remember the time he had fought Buu himself when it was the evil version (now reincarnated as Uub) and even though he was a bit overconfident in his fight, he was still able to study how Buu's body worked and how to fight against him. Goku was the most knowledgeable out of the group when it came to fighting Buu and notice a lot of glaring errors in the way Uub was fighting as he traded fists with Buu. He took a hit to the face with a left hook and then Buu stretched his arm out to wrap it around Uub's leg and tossed him across the stage. Uub had to stop himself in mid-air otherwise he would've landed outside and he flew back to land a few feet away in front of Buu. It didn't help that the crowds were cheering wildly and chanting Buu's name while his heart was still pounding wildly in his chest.

He went to charge forward at Buu again and wear a determined face while he was at it but his eyes widened when his mind began to superimpose the evil version of Buu on this Buu's face and he stopped short of punching it, instead catching a hard right to the face from Buu. Uub flew back and landed on the stage, sliding across it while breaking through the concrete tiles a bit to slow down his fall.

Goku put a hand to his face, shielding his eyes. "Uub, what are you doing?"

Videl looked at Uub with a lot of worry now and Gohan stared at him, frowning.

"This is bad," he said.

Uub stood back up and shook his head, trying to get the image out. He took up a fighting stance again and darted forward at Buu. But each time he got close, Buu's face would morph into that sinister face with the demonic red eyes and toothy grin and Uub's eyes widened in panic and he stopped himself short. He narrowly avoided Buu's punches and backed away step by step. Uub's face continued to get paler as his hands began to shake and he staggered back.

Pan felt considerably more worried as she saw how frightened Uub looked and her hand was to her chest. She could feel her own heart beating faster.

"Uub…"

"Ugh, this is so pathetic. He's wasting everyone's time fighting that pink moron. Just get the fight over with so I can win my match already!" Choi yelled, his patience wearing thin and Pan stared at him hard with tears in her eyes.

"What're you gonna do, Panny? Nothing, that's what," Choi said.

"Shut up! Shut your face! I hate you so much!" Pan screamed at him and was ready to attack him when he stared back with a grin on his face.

"The only thing you should be hating is that weak performance your boyfriend is showing everyone. You should be hating cowards like him who have no business being a fighter in the first place," Choi said before he walked away and Pan wanted so badly to deck him but slammed her fist against the archway which left a deep crack that almost caused the whole foundation to collapse on top of her.

The crowd was getting tired of this as well and they started growing more negatively towards Buu and Uub.

"What a joke!"

"I paid to watch a fight, not a circus performance!"

"Get off the stage, ya coward!"

"Forfeit to Buu!"

The boos were getting louder as Goku and the others looked around. Even Lemo decided to join in with the crowd.

"Get off the stage ya bum!" he cried out and Cheelai smacked him on the back of the head.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! We should be supporting Uub not trashing him!"

"That kid's in no condition to be fighting. He should give up and leave," said one of the spectators nearby.

"Whoever taught this kid should be ashamed of themselves," said a woman behind Goku and that caught his attention as his eyes widened.

"I know, right? Who teaches martial arts to a kid who flails about like a coward?" another woman beside her stated and Goku frowned, staring down at the stage. As he watched Uub scurry backwards to avoid Buu, he began feeling angry. It's been such a long time since he last felt angry that it surged inside him very quickly and he gritted his teeth. Piccolo noticed this and knew what was coming. Kelerot glanced over and saw Goku's face and even he had to briefly glance away. _He actually looks a bit scary when he's angry._

Goku stood up and using his energy, he heightened up his voice so that it could be louder than anyone else in the crowd.

"GET UP AND FIGHT BACK YA STUPID JACKASS!" Goku screamed as loudly as he could and the entire crowd went silent. Buu stopped dead in his tracks and Goku's family stared at him in shock. Piccolo's stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed, as well as Pan. Broly's family never expected Goku to look this angry before and never in their lifetime would think him to say something like that.

Uub snapped back to reality and glanced at Goku.

"Master?"

Goku took to the air and flew down to land in between Uub and Buu and the announcer began to panic.

"Hey! Y-you can't be on the stage during an official match!" he muttered but when he saw that it was Goku, he felt a bit guilty for chiding him, yet he still needed to maintain order.

"Sorry Mr. Announcer, but I have to do this!" Goku told him, then glanced back at Buu. "Sorry Buu, I won't be too long." He stared down hard at Uub with his fists clenched.

"I can't fight him, Master, I-"

"Shut up! Why did I go through all the trouble to train the reincarnation of Majin Buu?" Goku cried and the spectators looked down at him in confusion.

"Reincarnation?"

"What's he talking about?"

Some shrugged their shoulders and waited to see where this was going. Some clued in that this was a teacher scolding their student and remained quiet.

Uub couldn't help but start feeling angry himself. "Why didn't you tell me I was him, Master? Why did you keep this from me?! Why didn't you tell me I used to be a monster that killed billions of innocent people?!"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT BUU!" Goku screamed back. Uub was taken aback by that statement and Goku continued to glare down at him.

"Do you want to know why I wanted to bring you back?"

Uub looked away for a moment.

"Out of everyone I've ever fought in my life, you were the only one that could make me feel the most excited. You learned how to fight so quickly and so effortlessly that I envied you, Uub. I can never say that about anyone else and you have no idea how happy that makes me feel. I knew you did some evil things before as Majin Buu, which was why I wanted Yemma to reincarnate you as a good person. I made this request not because I wanted another chance to fight you again, but because I believe you have the determination to use all that power for good now and to protect the ones you care about. But you can't do that if you keep doubting yourself!"

Uub looked up and his face sank.

"Master, I-I'm sorry," he said and felt the tears begin to trickle down on his face.

"You have the power to do some actual good, Uub. Whether you remember things you did as Buu or not is irrelevant because what matters is what you're capable of doing NOW. The Buu that stands before you cast away his evil self a long time ago and wants to help people. He's best friends with Hercule, the greatest champion this world has ever known and together they helped us defeat the evil Buu. But that's not you anymore and you have to accept that. Not just for us, but for yourself."

Goku offered a hand to help Uub back up to his feet and Uub wiped his face against his forearm.

"Believe in your power Uub, you are the strongest fighter I've ever known and I'm proud to have been able to teach you everything I know. You inspire a lot of goodness in those from your village, and I know your mama and papa raised you well."

Uub's eyes widened when he heard that and he began to smile again, nodding.

"Heh, Mama would give me a whipping if she saw me act like this," Uub said, chuckling. Goku clapped him on the shoulder.

"Fight hard and do your best, Uub," Goku said and he waved at the announcer.

"Sorry that took so long, I'll let them resume the match!" he said and flew back to his seat.

"Will this pep talk from his teacher inspire contestant Uub to fight back and fight hard?" he said to the crowd and Uub stared at Buu, bowing at him.

"I'm sorry Buu, I should not have doubted you, nor myself. We may have been the same long ago but I know now we're totally different. I'd be honored to give you a proper fight this time."

"I would like that too," Buu said and took up a simple fighting stance. Uub could tell it wasn't as simple as Buu alluded it to be and he went into a stance that was much like Goku's.

Seeing Uub wear his old gi and take up a pose that was much like his, Goku couldn't help but smile again. Gohan stared at his father with a relaxed look on his face.

"That takes me back to when you helped me defeat Cell," Gohan said and Goku glanced back with a smirk.

"You didn't need any help, Gohan, you had the power all along."

"Ha ha, yeah," Gohan said, chuckling a bit.

"Thank you grandpa," Pan whispered, breathing a little more easily this time. She blushed as she saw Uub look more confident and clasped her hands together. _Good luck, Uub._

Choi was even looking at the whole spectacle and walked back up to the arch.

"'bout time someone talked some sense into him," he said and Pan glanced at him.

"Someone should do the same for you," she piped back and Choi smirked.

"You got a lot more guts than he does, that's for sure," he said.

Pan ignored him for now and closed her eyes.

Piccolo breathed a sigh of relief when Goku returned to his seat and could hear the crowd murmuring among each other. Most of it was along the lines of not knowing what the heck Goku was talking about but began cheering when they saw Uub stand tall and look more confident, as though Goku's words actually did reach him.

Kelerot looked at the whole situation unfold with an air of curiosity. _I wouldn't mind knowing a bit more about this. I didn't think there was more to this Uub kid than I realized initially. Show me what you got, Uub and prove Goku right._

Bulla looked up at Goku with a newfound admiration and smiled. "Thank you for talking some sense into him."

"Yeah," Goku said, and glanced back at Piccolo, whom he sensed was looking his way. He stood up and excused himself to walk up to him.

"So why did you decide to keep that secret from him?" Piccolo asked.

"Because I wanted Uub to live his own life, unburdened by the past. If I told him right away as soon as I met him that he was Majin Buu and that he caused a lot of destruction, he'd be reluctant to learn how to use his power. He needed to live his life and take care of his family, but I didn't want him to waste the opportunity presented before him to train hard and become even better than what he once was. There's still a lot of Buu that's a mystery, but I'm glad we don't have to worry about them being a threat to the earth."

"And despite all that, you still want your re-match against Uub after the Tournament is over?" Piccolo said and Goku responded with that same simple grin he always had when he's determined to get something done and Piccolo closed his eyes, grinning.

Goku went back to his seat and waited with anticipation for the match to resume.

Uub waited for Buu to make the first move and Buu disappeared in a high-speed burst to reappear in front of Uub, and the two knocked fists together. They began a high-speed exchange of blows that were blocked and dodged, moving across the stage. They were moving so fast the crowd could only barely see blurs zip around the stage and were at a loss for what to say. They noticed Buu was moving a lot faster this time than when he was fighting Android 18 and decided rather than attempt to locate them on the stage, they began cheering for Buu once more.

Uub ignored the cheers and any noises around him, feeling out Buu's energy which he was still amazed felt exactly like his own. There was no denying it now that he and Buu were once the same but he felt assured now that neither of them were even remotely evil anymore and Uub began to have a bit of a confident smile on his face as he moved around the stage, blocking and dodging Buu's punches. He began to counter some of them and socked Buu in the face with a counter-left and sent him crashing down to the stage with a double-ax handle blow. He flew down and landed near the impact area, waiting for Buu to re-emerge and the crowd was a bit stunned to say the least.

"Uub with a heavy strike that sends contestant Buu crashing into the stage! I'll start the count! ONE! TWO!"

The dust cleared, leaving Buu's head still stuck to the stage. Uub stood and waited, seeing what Buu would do next and he stood up, but not without detaching his head from his body and Uub's eyes widened.

Buu reached down and plucked his head from the stage and began molding it into a ball, juggling it in his hands before placing it back on top, the ball reshaping itself into Buu's head and he smiled as he sauntered over to Uub.

"This is fun!" Buu cried with a huge smile on his face. Uub returned the grin and took up a fighting stance once more. Buu rushed with a forward roundhouse kick and Uub arched his back dodging it. Buu then stopped his motion mid-way and brought his leg down, yet it was blocked by Uub's arms. The two moved around, blocking each other's punches and kicks and their movement carried them across the stage as the crowd warmed up a lot more to the fight.

They both made contact with their fists and it shook the area from the impact, each one trying to push the other one back with Uub wearing a more determined expression while Buu still had his signature smile. Uub couldn't help but chuckle a bit and the two resumed trading blows that were blocked and Uub slid down on his knees to duck underneath a roundhouse kick from Buu, who then spun around and swept Buu's other leg from underneath, causing Buu to lose balance. As Buu was falling down, Uub flipped back up on his feet and made a high-speed burst to punch down at Buu, who quickly dodged out of the way. Uub hit nothing but the stage and created a small crater from the impact but anticipated another kick from Buu who blocked it with his arm. Uub flipped back a few feet to gain some distance and fired off several energy blasts that Buu deflected away, returning with his own barrage.

Their attacks collided against each other, exploding all around the stage and the two fighters disappeared, reappearing above the ring to trade blows once more. Buu grabbed Uub by the shoulders and extended his arms to push him to the outside of the stage but Uub grabbed the arms and spun around to twist them and he quickly tied them up in a knot, which stunned Buu for a moment. He used this opportunity to fly back up and fire an energy blast at Buu, but the pink fighter dipped his own head into his body to dodge it, untying his arms in the process. Buu began retracting his arms and in the process managed to wrap them around Uub's body, trapping him.

"Crap!" Uub cried out, caught off guard by the sudden movement. He tried to move out but Buu's grip was getting tighter. The crowd waited on with anticipation, seeing where this would lead and Uub grunted as he gritted his teeth, trying to free himself.

"Dad," Gohan muttered but noticed that Goku was still smiling.

"Uub'll be fine, don't worry," Goku told him and Gohan stared back up at the two. Pan stared up with worry once more as Choi narrowed his eyes.

Broly and his family watched eagerly as Bok was amazed at how fast Uub and Buu were moving.

"Glad to see that kid looking more confident this time," Lemo said and Bok nodded.

"Yeah, he's way more determined in this fight than he was against me."

"C'mon Uub, you got this," Bulla said and Arugula held up Mr. Bronto.

"Uub! Do your best!" she cried out.

Buu began flying down towards the outside of the stage, forcing Uub into a ring-out. Uub glanced down and saw how close the ground was getting and he closed his eyes, crying out.

"Time to go bye-bye," Buu said and Uub shook his head.

Focusing his energy, Uub began to power himself up even more and let out a huge yell, bursting outward with his energy that shattered Buu's arms around him, exploding them into pink goo as the pieces flew all around the stage. Uub's brilliant white aura shone brightly around him as he flew right at Buu and punched him hard in the gut before Buu could reform his arms. Steam vents shot out like a tea kettle's whistle as Buu felt the full impact of that blow. Uub hit him again with another full force blow to the face, caving it inward and he grabbed Buu by the antenna on his head and began spinning him around. Buu's muffled cries as he was being spun around were ignored by Uub as he launched Buu up in the air, flying upward in a burst of speed to surpass him and he swooped around and dived down, planting his feet squarely in Buu's face again, sending the pink fighter crashing down into the stage.

"Attaboy, Uub!" Goku yelled out with his hands cupped around his mouth. Videl was stunned at how strong Uub looked and Gohan was equally amazed. Piccolo stared up with a smile on his face and even Kelerot couldn't conceal his amazement. Broly was surprised to see how strong Uub looked and he glanced over at Goku who returned his glance with a huge grin on his face.

"DOWN!" the announcer shouted and he rushed over to the stage. Uub quickly landed on the stage and his aura disappeared. Pan clapped and whistled and gave Choi a look with a smirk on her face as he was a bit taken aback from Uub's display of strength.

"You're not getting nervous, are you?" Pan said and Choi scoffed at her.

"Please, that's still nowhere near my level," he boasted and Pan rolled her eyes, looking back at the stage.

As the announcer made his count to ten, Buu burst out from the rubble and plopped his face and stomach back. The gooey debris returned to him and reformed his arms and yellow boxing gloves and he cracked his neck. Uub stood ready to fight again as the crowd cheered for Buu, chanting his name again.

"Buu was down but definitely not out!" the announcer shouted. "There's still plenty of fight left in him!"

Buu began firing up his power now and he cupped his hands to his side.

"Uh, dad? Is it really a good idea for Buu to fire a blast like that with all these people around?" Gohan asked and Goku looked on with a more serious expression.

"There's a lot of us here who'll make sure no one gets hurt if that happens," Goku told him and Gohan nodded.

Electric sparks swirled around the energy as Buu was charging up his attack and he fired off a massive blast at Uub. Uub planted his feet and brought his arms forward to catch the blast in his hands.

 _I gotta bring this out of here so it doesn't hit anyone! Even though I can sense he's not using all of his power with this attack._

That made him a bit curious about why Buu was holding back on his power. But Uub knew that his full power wasn't being tested either and part of him felt that this was just a tournament match and not a real life-and-death struggle so restraint was definitely a necessity. He brought his hands underneath the blast and lifted up the energy, shooting it upward into the sky. The energy blast exploded and shook the earth below, causing a bright flash to illuminate the whole area which forced the crowd to shield their faces and brace themselves as the whole area shook again.

Uub breathed a bit of a sigh as he stared at Buu, who watched his energy explode up in the air with a hand to shield the glare above his eyes. He turned to Uub and gave him a huge smile. The dust settled as the crowd were able to see again what was going on and noticed that the two fighters weren't moving now.

"I made up my mind," Buu said. Uub cocked an eyebrow.

"You made up your mind?"

Buu nodded. "Yep! I'm happy to have fought you but I want to spend some more time with Hercule. Let's fight again sometime! Bye!"

With that, Buu turned around and jumped off the stage, walking to the back. The crowd, stunned in silence for a few seconds, suddenly erupted.

"WHAA~~AAT?!"

Uub couldn't believe his eyes either as he blinked, processing this. The announcer rushed to the stage and couldn't find the words for a moment.

"Uh, contestant Buu has declared forfeit? That means contestant Uub is the winner of this match and will advance to the finals!"

He raised Uub's hand in the air and Uub glanced up at it. For some reason, he realized that Buu was more content spending time with his friend than with the tournament. _Thank you, Buu._

Uub walked to the back and was greeted by Pan.

"Congratulations!" she cried out and Uub frowned a bit.

"But I didn't really win though," Uub said. He spotted Buu and ran over to him. Choi glanced at him and sighed.

"Well that was pathetic," he said and stared out at the stage again, watching the staff fix up whatever they could before the next fight.

"Buu!" Uub cried out and Buu stopped.

"Why did you forfeit? Didn't you want to become the next champion too?" he asked.

"I don't care about the championship. Hercule retired, maybe I should too," Buu stated. He let out a huge yawn.

"I'm sleepy," Buu said and walked away, rubbing his eyes. Uub let out a small chuckle, crossing his arms as he watched Buu leave and Pan approached him.

"How do you feel?" Pan asked him and Uub momentarily lost his balance.

"Woah, easy there," she said, holding him up.

"I'm alright, just expended a lot of energy."

"You were fighting back fatigue after all," Pan said. "Maybe you should go get some sleep back at your room and I'll come get you after my match is over."

"I should stay and watch your fight, though," Uub said but Pan could clearly see the fatigue was more noticeable on Uub's face.

"Go and get some rest. I'll be fine. I can handle that brat," she said and caressed his face with her hand. Uub blushed a bit.

"Okay. Be careful and don't underestimate him. He's more than just talk; he has the power to back it up."

"I will, Uub. Thank you."

"Good luck," Uub said and the two stared at each other for a moment. Pan blushed as she stared up at him and glanced back to see if Choi was looking at them but he was still busy staring out at the stage. She quickly turned back and gave Uub a full kiss on the lips this time and walked away. Uub stared back, shocked at what had just happened and he touched his lips instinctively, his cheeks red against his tanned skin.

"We will be taking a short recess to repair the stage. Please be back in thirty minutes!" the announcer said and some of the crowd stood up to leave to take up that opportunity and the families looked at each other.

"Why would Buu forfeit the match?" Bulla asked. Goku stared down for a bit, watching the repairs go on and he crossed his arms.

"Because he knew he couldn't beat Uub. Rather than drag the fight on even further he decided he was satisfied with Uub's power and forfeited," Goku said and Bulla sighed.

"That's weird. I would've kept going until I got knocked out or fell off the stage or something," she said. "But whatever. Pan's up next so everyone of us better cheer extra loudly for her, right Arugula?"

She glanced down at Arugula who wasn't looking so enthusiastic and stared ahead with a blank expression on her face.

"Arugula?"

No response.

"Hey, are you okay?" Bulla asked and Arugula was still staring dead ahead. Bulla glanced down to get a better look on her face and noticed that it wasn't just a blank expression, the girl looked petrified with fear.

"Hey, you're scaring me like that. Arugula?"

She grabbed her shoulders and shook her a bit.

"Arugula!" Bulla cried out and Arugula snapped out of it. She looked up at Bulla, confused and raised her eyebrows a bit.

"What?"

"You were spacing out. You got me all worried," Bulla said and that brought the attention of the others as well.

"Is something wrong?" Cheelai asked.

"Arugula looked freaked out about something," Bulla said. Cheelai glanced down at her daughter with worry.

"Little one? Are you okay?" Cheelai asked her.

"I was talking to Mr. Bronto and he said something bad is going to happen," she said and the others looked at each other.

"Something bad? What do you mean?" Bulla asked this time. All eyes from her family and Goku's family were on Arugula as she could see them all staring at her now.

"Mr. Bronto didn't say what the bad thing was but he began to feel scared about Pan-Pan," Arugula said and Videl stood up, gasping a bit. Gohan put a hand on her arm, calming her down.

"What's going to happen to Pan? Is she in danger?" Videl asked.

"He doesn't know," Arugula said, looking down. She glanced up at her mother, at her father, then at Bok and Lemo but didn't say anything. She then spotted Choi staring out at the stage and her face grew pale again, her heart beating a bit faster as her eyes widened.

"Pan-Pan's in danger," she whispered.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – "An unwelcomed awakening of fury! Choi pushed to the brink."**

 **Capsule Corporation…**

Bulma and Dr. Briefs put together the final touches to a large cylindrical device. They were both wearing hazmat suits along with a few other staff who had been working with them diligently on this project. The cannister the two carried was carefully inserted into a slot in the middle section. When they pushed it in, they twisted it to lock it in place and closed the lid over it, locking it down with a latch.

Bulma breathed a sigh of relief as they all removed their head piece and she set it down on a table nearby.

"Everyone should be at least five feet away from the engine before we activate it. If all the calculations have been made, once Papa activates the switch, we should see the results for ourselves," Bulma said. Dr. Briefs sat down behind a computer terminal and removed his gloves, hitting a few keystrokes. He turned and adjusted several knobs and dials and then he flipped open a red panel that had a singular switch in the off position. He and Bulma looked at each other and then nodded at the same time.

When he flipped the switch on, the engine began revving up as the cylinder began to rotate counter-clockwise. Bulma watched it with a careful eye, crossing her fingers in the process. She stood beside her father, eyeing the monitor as it displayed the numbers from the device's stats. The levels fluctuated as several bars bounced up and down on the screen before they started to settle on one specific number. One by one, from the left, each bar locked in place at the same number and when the last one locked in the same place, Bulma put her hands up to her face, closing her eyes. She felt her heart racing as her nerves were through the roof. This was it, she felt it. This was the moment she and her father had been waiting for years to achieve.

"Sixty seconds have passed, the output is still consistent," Dr. Briefs stated.

"So far so good. Once we reach the five minute mark, we can probably breathe a little easier," Bulma replied, glancing back from the computer screen to the engine in the middle of the room. The other staff members eagerly awaited the good word from the two, watching the engine run.

They waited in silence as the timer counted away, each second going by seemed like a reassurance of Bulma's hopes and dreams becoming reality. She began to smile as she watched the timer reach the five minute mark and clasped her hands together in prayer as the timer passed it.

"I can't believe it's working," she whispered, her voice almost shaking.

"Hm? Wait a moment, this can't be right," Dr. Briefs noted as he was watching the computer screen more closely than Bulma was.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Bulma asked, her smile fading.

"The rates are constant but the numbers should be way higher than what's displayed right now," he said and saw that the bars began to slightly go down by a few pixels and Bulma's eyes widened.

"It's not sustaining itself," she said and within a few seconds, the engine powered itself down and suddenly a huge pop was heard from inside, followed by a cloud of black smoke. The scent of burnt metal permeated the room, forcing those inside to cover their mouths and noses, some putting the head piece back on. Bulma slunk back against the wall and slid down to the floor, defeated. She looked at the smoke billowing from the engine and brought her knees up to her chest. She buried her face down on top of them and put her hands on her head, breathing a painful sigh as Dr. Briefs took out his pack of cigarettes and lit one up. He shut everything down and walked over to grab a fire extinguisher from the wall and casually used it to extinguish the smoke and cool the engine down.

"I'm so sorry Dr. Briefs, we had our hopes up too," said one of the staff and Dr. Briefs put his hand up.

"Don't worry about it too much. We'll figure it out eventually," he said and dismissed them. When they left the room, Bulma lifted her head up with her hand to the side of her face.

"If it only stayed the same for five more minutes, it would've been a success," she said and stood up. She walked over to the engine and put her hands on it. She was careful to leave her gloves on since the engine was likely too hot to touch barehanded and she ran her hand along the smooth metallic surface. She turned around and saw a chair nearby and walked over to grab it.

"Bulma," Dr. Briefs started but she wasn't paying attention. She took the chair with a firm grip and began slamming it repeatedly against the engine, her face engulfed in anger. She hit the engine so many times that eventually the chair broke apart completely and she belted out a scream of rage before collapsing to her hands and knees, breathing heavily. Her father walked over to a wall that had several pictures hung on it.

This room in particular was Dr. Brief's own personal laboratory where he spent the majority of his life working on his best projects. Some of his most prized pictures were hung on the wall. Pictures of him and Mrs. Briefs, Bulma and her sister Tights, a picture of Bulma and Tights posing with Jaco the Patrolman, and one of himself with his old black cat perched on his shoulder. He took that particular picture down and smiled under his mustache as he puffed away at his cigarette.

When he hung the picture back on the wall, he walked over to Bulma and stroked her back.

"There there, my dear. We can't give up just yet," he said and Bulma shook her head, not looking up at him.

"I can't do this anymore. This technology is impossible to replicate. I don't know how Dr. Gero did it and I'm so tired it's adding years to my life."

"Nothing is ever impossible in the world of science, Bulma. Your friends achieve this every day and even I can never figure out the mysteries behind it. But I never let it discourage me, and neither should this," Dr. Briefs assured her and she sat down, wiping a few tears that came down her face.

"Maybe for you it doesn't, but I'm done with this project. Unless you can pull a miracle or something," she said and she paused for a moment. Her face calmed down and began to look determined as she stood back up on her feet. She walked over to the shelving units and searched through several of the storage boxes and pulled out one of them that had her name on it.

"What are you doing?" Dr. Briefs asked.

"Something I should've done a long time ago," Bulma said, pulling out an older model of her Dragon radar from the box and blew some dust off the screen. She wiped the rest of it off with her sleeve and pressed the top button to see if it was still active and the green grid began to display seven blips on it. Two were centered of course since they were still here in Capsule Corp, but she expanded the grid outward to see that three blips were moving together towards a fourth quite a distance away.

She then took off her hazmat suit and reached in the pocket of her lab coat, pulling out a case that had several capsules stored inside. She examined each one and nodded, knowing that one of them was for a personal aircraft she used often to fly around.

"I wanted to avoid asking Shenron to give us the technology but I'm completely out of options at this point," she said, staring at her father. He nodded and turned to the engine that had suffered significant dents from the chair Bulma used to attack it with.

"I'll start repairing this while you're out," he said and Bulma walked out of the laboratory room.

 **On the way to New Namek…**

Freeza was very particular about the cruiser he flew in. He knew the ins and outs of his own personal ship and despite the similarities of the design, it still felt foreign to him. However, this was the only cruiser that was fast enough to take them to New Namek, a planet he had been briefed on by several scouts some time ago.

He walked around the halls of the ship, ignoring Cooler's soldiers along the way. They saluted him as they would salute his brother but Freeza was never one to care about those who served under him unless their power was worthy of his attention. When he arrived on the main bridge, Berryblue was the first to greet him.

"Does this make you feel more at home, Lord Freeza?" she asked and he scoffed at her.

"It's an older decrepit model but it'll suffice," he said, glancing at his brother. Cooler was seated in his hover chair, much like the one Freeza sat on himself. He spotted Cooler's own personal Armored squadron and they all saluted him, bowing their heads. He walked over to the display screen and observed the stars moving as they travelled through hyperspace.

"We should arrive within a day," Cooler said from behind. Freeza closed his eyes, smiling.

"There's no rush, brother. Acquiring their Dragonballs without resistance while your creations keep those earthlings pre-occupied will make this run smoothly," he said and glanced behind him.

"I understand one among your squadron understands the Namekian language?" he asked and Salza, a blue-skinned henchman of Cooler's, stepped forward and saluted with his hand to his breastplate.

"Yes my Lord, I'm fluent in several thousand languages across the universe," he said, bowing to Freeza.

"Good, I will need you to summon their Dragon and recite my wish for me," he said and turned his attention to Cooler.

"I'm curious as to why you never sought out Namek for yourself, brother. Surely this information would've been useful to you, would it not?" he asked and Cooler looked bored.

"A flattering opportunity no doubt, but a waste of my time. I prefer my own method of dealing with my problems rather than the quick and easy path. Controlling the southern frontier worlds and galaxies of your Empire meant there was little time to find out where they had relocated to."

He leaned forward with his hands underneath his chin, grinning maliciously.

"Those fools on Earth won't know what's in store for them once my children engage them."

"And once Goku is made aware of where we are heading, he won't resist the urge to fight me again. And when he does…"

Freeza's lips curled back in a malicious toothy grin as his fists clenched tightly, chuckling a bit under his breath.

 **Pan vs. Choi begins…**

What was once a joyful feeling of anticipation for Videl to see her daughter fight her next match turned to a sinking feeling of dread as she watched Pan and Choi walk onto the fighting stage. Pan had a fierce look of determination on her face, focused squarely on Choi as she stared at him, while Choi looked more bored, walking with his hands behind his head.

Videl clasped her hands together and pressed them against her face. "Please be safe, Pan. Please be safe."

Arugula's vision left some of the others uncomfortable, most notably from Videl and Bulla than everyone else. Gohan felt concerned as well but one look from his father eased it a bit. Goku was still confident in Pan given how often he helped in her training over the months leading to the start of the tournament and Bulla occasionally would glance back and forth between Pan and Choi, crossing her arms with one leg over the other, tapping the air with her foot.

"Are you okay, Sissy?" Arugula asked, looking up at her. Bulla's face reminded Goku of her mother's face when she looked annoyed or angry, a look passed down from one generation to the other.

"Your brother better not get carried away or I'll kick his butt," she said, staring at Choi. He could tell he was being watched and glanced out of the corner of his eye up at Bulla and turned around to face Pan.

"Pan! Fight hard and win this!" Bulla cried out, standing up. She was fired up now, and Arugula stood up on her seat as well, holding Mr. Bronto up as high as she could.

"Pan-Pan! Fight hard!" she cried out and Pan smiled, her cheeks going red.

"Hey brat, how does it feel having your family root for me instead of you?" Pan asked and Choi stared back at her, grinning.

"You honestly think I care who they cheer for? I'm not in this for anyone else but me and once that gong rings you'll be flat on your face like that trashbag I knocked out yesterday," Choi stated.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Bulla yelled and Goku had to grab the back of her collar before she could take off. She glanced up at Goku and sighed, sitting back down.

"Don't let him get to you, Bulla. Keep supporting Pan," Goku said and Bulla continued glaring at Choi.

"Welcome back everyone to the second semi-final match of the 30th World Martial Arts Tournament!" the announcer cried out and the crowd roared. He held his microphone high in the air before bringing it to his lips and adjusted his sunglasses, smiling.

"Contestant Pan fought a valiant battle against Contestant Bulla and narrowly came through the victor. Now she has to come face-to-face with Contestant Choi, the kid with the lightning quick legs, who blew away the preliminaries in the blink of an eye. He soundly defeated Contestant Trunks the moment the gong rang out, stunning the crowd and one can only wonder if he'll repeat the same feat again. Or will Pan be ready for him? Contestants, are you ready?!"

Pan immediately went into her fighting stance while Choi remained still. He cracked his knuckles under his heavily taped wrists and hands and bounced up and down a couple times on his feet, moving his hands through his mohawk before relaxing his stance.

"Hey dad, what do you think? I don't see many openings in the way he's standing," Gohan whispered up to him and Goku nodded.

"Yeah, he's trained his body every day with his brother, according to Broly and Lemo," he said, glancing over at Broly.

"That girl's going to be Choi's first real challenge, I think," Lemo stated and Cheelai nodded. She stared up at Broly, who looked a bit tense.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Broly didn't respond but rather continued surveying the stage. She put her hand on Arugula's head and her daughter responded with a smile on her face.

"Come cheer for Pan-Pan with me, mama!" she cried out and Cheelai smiled, nodding.

"Okay, but we should still support your brother, he's trained hard to become a good fighter," she told her and Arugula frowned.

"Mr. Bronto doesn't like him. He tells me Choi has a scary face," she said and Cheelai sighed, staring down at her son. She glanced over at Bok and the two exchanged a look and Bok nodded.

At the apex of the drums, Choi moved his feet forward and Pan took notice, anticipating Choi's opening attack, the one that knocked Trunks unconscious. She focused her energy, keeping track of Choi's and waited for the first move once the gong rang.

The crowd went quiet as the drums were pounding, waiting eagerly for the fight to start. The drums increased in tempo until they stopped and the gong sounded. Choi disappeared right as the gong rang and this time Pan was ready for him.

A wave of energy rocked the area, shaking the ground around everyone for a moment as Pan caught Choi's fist and knee, poised to strike her vital areas that would've guaranteed a quick knock out had she not expected it. Choi's boastful and brash confidence faded into a fiercely determined look as he vanished in another high speed burst. Pan did the same and the two reappeared, knocking fists together. Choi's movements as he danced around in the air were more unorthodox for Pan as she started blocking each blow that was coming her way. It wasn't just punches and kicks, but Choi was also implementing elbows, knees, even headbutts that she narrowly blocked with the palm of her hand and he moved in a blur, catching her off-guard on her blind spot. He knocked her down to the stage with a successive array of kicks and she flipped over a few times to land on her feet.

Choi was immediately on her as she landed, appearing above her to land the back of his heel on top of her head, which she blocked by raising her arms in a cross pattern to catch his leg as it fell. He disappeared in a high-speed burst, reappearing all around her using a variation of an after-image technique where it looked like he was moving slowly but his speed was so fast that Pan was starting to show signs of trouble keeping up with his movements.

 _Geez this brat's fast,_ she thought to herself as she darted her eyes around to keep track of his energy and he moved again to her blind spot, only this time she caught him and even though she blocked an oncoming side kick, the force knocked her back as she slid across the stage a few feet, Choi's high-speed momentum creating enough force to compensate and showcasing how fast he was to her and she steadied herself back into a fighting position.

"I've gotta start watching my kids train more often," Cheelai said. "I can't see a damn thing."

"You're going to be missing out on a lot, mother," Bok told her as he watched the fight. "Choi hasn't even begun to show his true speed. He's waiting for the right moment when Pan starts elevating her own power to compensate so he can continue his advantage. As much as I hated the way he bragged about it, sometimes during our training he moves so fast I have trouble sensing his energy and it took all my effort in my perfect defense to keep him from overwhelming me completely. I hope Pan's got the sense to anticipate him better than I could."

"Hey brat, don't get too confident on your speed," Pan said, smirking at him. Choi didn't waver as his gaze was still serious. When he goes into his fighting mode, his usual cocky attitude is replaced with a very serious state of mind where he doesn't want to commit a single error during his match.

He didn't say anything as he burst into a sprint towards Pan and vanished before Pan could make a move. She caught him appearing above her again and went for a counter, which Choi deftly dodged with another burst of speed, reappearing behind her. He used as many chances as he could to take advantage of his opponent's blind spot that Pan spun around and caught his hand and wrist, going in for a kick to the gut, which he blocked with his other hand.

The two threw down on the stage with Pan going on the offensive, and Choi blinking in and out from side to side, dodging and blocking each of her shots. Pan began to focus her energy to bring it up and increase her movement speed and she too began to blink in and out, forcing Choi to start blocking more of her shots as she sped up. His face grunted a bit as she started to move slightly faster than he was and she managed to catch him with a right smack across his face, open handed and she followed it up with a right hook, which Choi narrowly dodged to force him down onto the stage. He caught himself with his right hand and he twirled around to sweep Pan with his leg, spinning around to catch her with a double kick in the gut with his feet. He flipped back onto his feet and she recovered quickly to fire a few energy blasts in his direction, creating some distance. She flew back and unloaded a barrage of energy balls, firing them rapidly at Choi, who dodged and blinked around the stage to avoid them.

Choi sprinted forward again through the energy blasts, firing some of his own. His energy attacks were smaller in size and thinner as they flew towards Pan, who countered each energy blast with her own, the two colliding against each other and exploding, creating a cloud of dust which concealed the two fighters from the spectators.

Pan and Choi could still gauge their location as the smoke was still present, and Pan took to the air to get away, while Choi reappeared above and behind her, coming down with a double ax-handle blow that caught her in the back of the head and sent her crashing down to the stage. Videl gasped and winced when she saw Pan get struck down and Choi crossed his arms, palms facing up and outward, and began charging up energy from them.

Pan held the back of her head as she stood up, wincing at the pain and she immediately could sense something large was coming her way. The cloud had thinned itself out as she could make out Choi's figure from above her, charging an attack.

Her eyes widened as he brought one arm swinging down after the other and two energy arc blades shot out from his fists that shot down towards Pan.

They narrowly missed her but created another explosion that sent her flying backwards and she had to power up to keep herself from landing outside of the stage, a bright white aura surrounding her. She flew up at Choi but he was ready for her, moving his hands in an arc-like pattern, throwing more of those energy blades at her, forcing her to dodge them as she moved upward.

She countered with a few energy blasts of her own, forcing Choi to stop his attack and knock the energy blasts away from him. She flew in rapid bursts of speed, and he was a bit stunned at her own display of speed that he prepared a counter in case she caught him in his blind spot. When she appeared to throw a punch, he was ready. But she suddenly glowed brightly and separated into two separate beings that caught Choi by surprise and they both punched him in the gut and she kicked him hard to send him flying down to the stage, crashing into it to create a small crater. She merged back together as one and flew down to land nearby, waiting to see what would happen next. The crowd roared and chanted her name, with even Buu's Fanclub firmly behind the young girl as they cheered her on.

"Down!" the announcer yelled and he began counting. Choi was half buried in the stage, his legs sticking out and an arm burst outward, followed by the other one. He pushed his head back out and he gasped, taking a deep breath before he stood back up to dust himself off, the announcer stopping at the count of six.

Pan waited while she took up a fighting stance again and she was fired up, smiling at him. She felt her power continue to rise up as she focused on Choi, wanting to finish this fight quickly. Choi cracked his neck a couple of times as he was back on his feet, not looking back at Pan and rolled his shoulders. He glanced back at her and a small grin appeared on his face.

"There's more where that came from, brat," Pan said, smiling at him. Choi chuckled a bit.

"Good, because your performance so far has been a huge disappointment," he said and Pan's smile disappeared quickly. He took up a fighting stance again, only this time he raised one leg up, bent at the knee and he positioned his hands in such a way that Pan noticed there were no openings for her to attack.

 _Is this him getting serious, or is he trying to toy around again? Damn this brat is pissing me off,_ Pan thought as she took a deep breath, keeping herself calm and her wits sharpened, staring at Choi.

He then suddenly brought his foot down hard on the stage and it knocked a few of the tiles up from their foundation. He moved much faster this time as he blurred around the area, knocking each of the tiles simultaneously at Pan, which caught her by surprise.

"What?!" she cried out and she moved as fast as she could to knock them away, breaking them apart with punches and kicks. This provided enough of a distraction for Choi to move through the debris and make a move that Goku recognized as something Choi was going to use on him when he first showed up on Planet Bloss. Goku's eyes widened a bit as he saw the movement and Choi flipped over to hover above Pan, but when Goku was expecting Choi to come down with another heel drop, he instead twisted his body in a corkscrew, flying down towards Pan.

"Pan! Watch out!" Goku cried and Pan reacted with a quick defense but part of her shoulder was caught in the movement and it caused her to stagger back a few steps. Choi used this moment to continue to pelt her with kicks, which for the most part she was able to block but caught some of them to her face and shoulder area, forcing her back. He kept going with his barrage, pushing her back towards the edge of the stage. She gritted her teeth as she sensed the edge of the stage was drawing close and felt that if she didn't act quickly, she'd fall off.

She waited until one of Choi's kicks was aiming for her face before she grabbed hold of his ankle and she stopped his momentum. She then took to the air, dragging him up with her and he spun around trying to kick her off him and loosen her grip. But she blocked his attack and kept flying upward.

She grabbed his ankle with both hands and began spinning him around several times, going faster and he began feeling a bit of frustration coming through, glaring at her a bit. He fired a few energy blasts in her direction but they were wild and out of focus that they missed their target and flew outward. Pan tossed Choi down hard towards the ground and flew immediately down in pursuit to ensure that he would land.

Choi recovered quickly and noticed how close he was getting and flipped over a few times, propelling himself back up with an energy blast from his feet that gave him the boost needed to fly back up, the energy crashing into the ground causing an explosion that spread dust and debris around the area, some covering the crowd.

As he flew up, he fired several quick energy blasts at Pan, who flew out of the way. He pursued her with an ongoing barrage of energy attacks which Pan had to move as quickly as she could to avoid them, sometimes deflecting those that were too close to call. She glanced behind her and decided to lead him away from the tournament grounds for now. She brought her hands up to her forehead and made a few quick movements to dodge Choi's energy blasts, turning around to face him.

"Masenko!" she cried out and brought her hands down to fire a huge energy beam at Choi, who was on a direct path to collide with it. His eyes widened a bit out of surprise and he moved his hands in front of him as quickly as possible to catch the energy beam. It stopped his movement and began pushing him back, his face deeply focused on containing this energy beam and sending it elsewhere. He moved his hands over the beam and channeled energy into a pulse-like thrust that shifted the direction of the energy beam down towards the tournament grounds.

Pan's eyes widened in fear as she saw where the beam was heading and she quickly made several high-speed bursts to catch up with it but felt a sense of dread as she realized she wasn't going to make it in time.

"No…" she muttered to herself. It was just at that moment that the energy beam suddenly exploded in the air, causing a flash of bright light to blanket the area and forcing the spectators to shield their eyes. Pan felt the winds blow hard from the explosion, shielding her face and Choi stared at the explosion with a suspicious gaze.

Piccolo was the first to notice what had happened as he glanced at Kelerot, who was staring at the explosion. For in that one moment, he saw a flash of light burst from Kelerot's eyes as he was staring up at the energy beam coming down. He frowned as he watched it all happen and stared back up at Pan and Choi. _That kid's going to be problematic if this keeps up._

"You left yourself open!" Choi yelled as he caught Pan staring down at the energy beam. She gasped in shock and spun around too late to be hit with a roundhouse kick that sent her down. She looked around frantically, realizing that she was on a one-way course to the outside of the stage for sure and there was no time to propel herself back up. She only had seconds to react and decided to make a gamble.

Channeling energy, she split herself in two. They looked at each other and one of the Pans fired an energy blast at the other to push her back to land on the stage, while the other concentrated to make sure she rejoined as one whole Pan as she crashed into the stage, the other one changing into a bright light that flew back towards Pan and joined up with her anew.

Choi scoffed at the strategy and flew down to land on the stage as Pan was slow to get up. She took a few deep breaths and dusted off her gi, staring at him.

"Is winning this match worth putting these spectators in danger?!" Pan cried and Choi glanced for a moment at the crowd.

"What makes you think I was aiming at anyone specifically? I redirected your energy beam, nothing more," Choi said as he walked towards her.

"That looked intentional, you brat!" Pan yelled, clenching her fists as she took up a fighting stance again and Choi stopped.

"Whatever it takes to win," Choi said and he vanished again. Pan focused and caught him as he reappeared but felt that a change in strategy was needed. As Choi was ready to throw a punch, Pan split again into two and both flickered around to appear behind him, re-merging. She threw a punch at him that he narrowly blocked with a forearm and as he was moving in for a counter, she split again, throwing him off. She flickered as two separate bodies around him, causing him to miss his shots and she caught one hand as he was going to throw another punch, allowing the other to hit him squarely in the face. The first one put him in a full-nelson hold, trapping him while the other used his open chest and face to throw several punches that hit him.

 _Damn this girl!_ Choi yelled in his head and head-butted the first Pan behind him with the back of his head and caught the second one's fists, countering with his own that staggered her back, following up with a few kicks and a roundhouse that hit Pan in the back, sending her forward to crash into the other one, the two merging back together again.

He spun around and flew straight at her with another burst of speed to catch her before she recovered but she gambled another split form and both Pans caught Choi's arms mid-flight and rocked his face from both sides with a forward punch. They let him go and he covered his face in pain, the Pans merging back as one again.

"Pan's amazing, dad!" Gohan cried. "I can't believe how well she's doing."

"Yeah. She worked hard on her split form techniques. She said if she wanted something unique to her fighting strategy, splitting into multiple forms and working on their weaknesses was one of her main goals during her training. You saw her split into 16 copies, but her best strategy involves only splitting into two without the decrease in her energy rather than splitting it in half."

Gohan smiled at Goku's analogy and he glanced over at Videl who was still holding her hands together.

"This is so nerve-wracking, I can't help but worry about what that kid might do to Pan," she said and Gohan took her hand in his.

"Pan's going to be fine, she's a very capable fighter," he told her.

"Wooo! Go Pan!" Bulla cried out.

"Pan-Pan! Keep going!" Arugula joined in and Pan blushed a bit, hearing the two of them. Choi felt his face again and glared at Pan. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at her for a moment, then reached down to untie the pelt around his waist. He lifted it up and tossed it to the outside of the stage, and when Pan saw the impact it created, her eyes widened a bit. The pelt landed with a heavy crash, embedding itself in the ground below it. This took everyone but Broly's family by surprise and Gohan's smile faded.

"He was wearing weighted gear the whole time?" Gohan asked and Goku glanced at Broly.

"Was your old fur pelt always that heavy?" Goku asked him.

"No, Bah's ear was enhanced with special weights for my sons to train and fight with. Choi only does this when he wants the fight to end quickly," Broly said and Bok wore a somber grin as he stared at his brother.

"Choi can be pretty scary sometimes when he takes the weights off. His speed increases exponentially as a result. I don't know what else Pan has up her sleeve but if she's not careful she'll either be knocked out of the ring or knocked out completely."

Choi did a few stretches with his legs before rubbing his hips a bit.

"Finally decided to get serious for once, brat?" Pan asked but Choi didn't say anything. He did have a small reaction when he saw that she was smiling rather than look worried and he frowned at her.

"I guess I'll have to get serious too, then," she said and stared at him.

"I'm ending this so don't bother," Choi simply said and vanished, reappearing behind her before she could even process a reaction. Her eyes widened but it felt like she was moving in slow motion as she moved to spin around. She raised her arm to strike back but he disappeared right before the swing even connected and reappeared behind her again. She kept trying to attack but he was dodging and moving around her so fast she was having a great deal of difficulty handling the situation as she felt a bit worried about the state of the fight.

He appeared above her and flipped over forward a few times before dropping his heel on top of Pan and she barely managed to jump out of the way before Choi hit the stage where she stood, causing a massive crack that sent chunks of the tiles flying around it and the ground to shake a bit. Pan, as she flew back, fired a few energy blasts at Choi, thinking she could catch him before he recovered but he was still moving so fast that he swerved around each energy blast that avoided him and hit the stage behind him, causing small explosions.

Choi burst from the stage and flew straight at her, dodging with flickering motions as she continued to fire at him, taking to the skies to avoid him. Instead, Choi darted right past her and stopped above her in the air, crossing his arms for another one of those arcing energy blades he threw at her earlier, connecting his hands to fire a large green cross-shaped arc of energy down at her, which looked more streamlined and narrower than the previous one.

Pan's eyes widened and she had to think quickly. Cupping her hands together, she brought them to her side and charged energy, thrusting them forward. She let out a yell as she fired a Kamehameha blast to take out the energy blade and it connected, causing a huge explosion of light and energy that cascaded below them to the crowd. Goku and the others were still fine except for Arugula who had to cover her face on Cheelai's lap, Cheelai herself shielding her own face. Broly was a bit shocked at the explosion and both Goku and Gohan stared at Pan while Videl looked even more worried than before. She stood up, her hands still clasped together and closed her eyes. _Please get out of this, Pan._

When the chaos settled, Choi stared down at Pan, who glared back.

"The more you resist the worse it's going to get for you, so give up," Choi said. He didn't have his usual snarky tone this time and he brought his hands forward, gathering energy in his palms that began to glow green and Pan clenched her fists.

"I _never_ give up, brat!" Pan yelled and she began powering up, her brilliant while aura growing more intense. Her energy pulsated around her, causing the crowd to shield themselves from the blowing winds her power up was creating and Gohan's eyes widened, unable to hold back his own excitement.

"Dad, Pan's, her energy's incredible!" he shouted, though Videl didn't share the same enthusiasm.

"Your little girl's really strong, you should be proud," Goku said but as much as he wanted to smile at Pan's display of strength, he kept staring at Choi and closed his eyes.

"It's still going to take all she's got to keep up with Choi, given his speed advantage," Goku iterated and Gohan frowned, nodding.

"You're doing really great, Pan!" he shouted up to his daughter, raising his fist in the air. Pan glanced at it for a moment and smiled ear to ear.

She stared at Choi and vanished in front of him. He was ready for her when she reappeared behind him and the two connected with their forearms. Choi went for a counter that Pan deflected away from her face and the two looked evenly matched with their punches and kicks connecting against each other without any one gaining ground over the other.

Choi flew back and swung his arms to aim more arc blades at Pan. Her power boost gave her the speed she needed to swerve around them and she flickered around him, creating afterimages which drew his attention.

He stared at them cautiously, waiting for the right one to hit and he sensed one was coming his way and he punched at it, but it faded upon impact. His eyes widened a bit and searched for where Pan might appear and went for another one but that too faded.

"What's wrong? I thought you were faster than me," Pan said with a smile on her face and Choi focused his energy to sense the real Pan from the images and fired energy blasts around him. When he saw one that was deflected from Pan's hand, he made a high-speed burst to appear in front of her and throw a punch, which she caught. But she was still smiling and he looked at her confused until he was pelted in the back with a few energy blasts. He flew back and had a shocked look on his face when the afterimages all solidified into several copies of Pan.

"I know how I'm going to win this fight, brat," the Pan behind him said, forcing him to turn around and glare at her.

"YOU, win this fight?" Choi said and began to chuckle. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"I have one thing you don't that gives me the biggest advantage of this fight," Pan boasted and Choi crossed his arms, staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Ho? No one beats me, get that in your thick skull, Fanny Panny," Choi said. He began to frown when he kept seeing Pan's grin.

"Great, you beat a bunch of guys in the preliminaries and fought an unprepared Trunks, big deal. How many opponents have you really had that gave you a proper challenge?" Pan asked and Choi lowered his arms.

"W-well, plenty! You wouldn't know how many I've fought! You don't know who I am at all!" Choi cried out, glaring at her.

"Plenty huh? Must be nice fighting plenty of people on that planet you're from, unless that "plenty" is just your dad and brother?"

Pan's words had an effect as he scoffed at her, clenching his fists.

"Like I said, I have one distinct advantage over you in this fight and I'm pretty sure that it'll give me the victory," Pan stated and Choi stared back.

"And what is it that you're so proud of, then?" Choi felt compelled to ask and Pan crossed her arms, grinning proudly at him.

"Discipline," she said.

"Discipline?"

"Yes. I'm more disciplined than you, which means I make fewer mistakes. You're so damn cocky that you showboat yourself around the stage thinking you're the best when the real lesson hasn't been taught to you yet that there's ALWAYS a stronger opponent than you."

"Shut up!" Choi yelled and charged forward, flickering around Pan, who flew out of the way to re-merge herself whole and he charged up a large energy ball in his hand that he sent at her at an incredible speed. Pan cried out and knocked the energy ball up to the sky with a double ax-handle blow.

Choi wasn't done though, he followed up with several larger energy balls that he began firing down at Pan, and she deflected some while countering others, causing her energy and Choi's energy to collide and explode once more.

When the energy cleared, Pan was ready with a Kamehameha while Choi was looking more flustered as his frustration became apparent on his face. It suddenly turned to shock as she fired directly at him and he brought up his arms to defend himself as quickly as he could, the beam connecting. He screamed as it collided, sending him flying back and Pan flew out of the range of the explosion with a burst of energy, arcing up over it to come down on Choi with a right fist. She screamed as she came down on him and when he lowered his arms, she connected squarely in his face with her punch, almost caving his face in and it sent him flying down fast at the stage. She wasn't aiming at anywhere in particular, only let his momentum carry him down to crash into the stage, creating another crater from the impact. She flew down to land nearby on the stage and stared at Choi, wondering if he was actually going to get up from that.

"DOWN!" the announcer cried out after the dust had cleared and the winds calmed down. The crowd roared with cheers for Pan as she blushed a bit and Videl cried out in happiness, jumping up and down with tears in her eyes, hugging Gohan. Broly's family looked a bit nervous now that they saw Choi stuck in the stage, Cheelai covering her mouth with her hands, eyes wide, and Broly frowning down at the stage. Bok was standing up, staring at his brother with concern on his face while Arugula was cheering for Pan with Bulla, waving Mr. Bronto in the air. Lemo was just as worried as Bok, standing beside him and the two glanced at each other for a moment.

Choi moved his arms slowly to push himself up to his hands and knees, getting his head out from the soil. He processed his surroundings for a moment and for a brief second he was relieved that he was still on the stage and hadn't landed outside. He could hear loud noises around him from the crowd who were roaring with cheers and tried to listen to the announcer counting away. He could've sworn he heard ringing in his ears as the tension built up on the back and front of his head and he felt his face.

He wasn't sure what he was feeling initially and wanted to get back to his feet first before he could assess how badly things were. He was slow to get up, staggering to his feet. He took a huge hit to the face that rocked him hard and his legs were shaky as he managed to get himself to a standing position. Pan glanced at him for a moment and couldn't help but gasp a bit when she saw what her punch had done to his face. A huge bloody gash had formed in his nasal area and his left eye had popped a blood vessel, making the whole eye look as bloody as his nose. That drew notice from the crowd as well, some wincing at the sight.

"What happened to my baby?" Cheelai said, her face growing pale.

"Looks like that girl broke his nose pretty fierce," Lemo said and Cheelai gasped, staring at him. She covered Arugula's eyes.

"Don't stare at your brother, he's hurt," she told her and Arugula glanced up at her. She held up Mr. Bronto in front of her face.

"Okay, I'll let Mr. Bronto see what's going on," she said. She glanced at Gohan and Videl and while she knew they were cheering for Pan; she still felt a bit of disgust at the way they were ignoring Choi's predicament and frowned.

Choi brought his hand up to his face and had his bearings together enough to focus more on what damage he had sustained. He felt his nose and it was out of place. He felt confused at his vision, like part of it was covered in a red hue as he blinked, unable to process this. He hissed and winced as he touched his nose and brought his hand down. He stared at his blood soaked hand and his eyes widened. He had never seen anything like this before, not on him anyway. He was used to seeing the blood of others, mainly the animals he had hunted before with his brother on Bloss, but he had never seen so much of his own blood spilt like this before and he felt a disturbing feeling in the pit of his stomach. It felt nauseating, and he didn't like it. Lots of things at the moment felt nauseating and he didn't like those either. The noise from the crowd, the pain he was in, the blood on his hand, the tension in the back and front of his head. It was throbbing, it was painful, and it was pissing him off.

"You…" he said calmly, his voice shaking. He looked up and saw that face of hers, that face of Pan's, the one who caused him to feel this, a feeling he had never felt before, not even when he was hit by his brother.

"YOU…" he said louder, clenching his blood-soaked fist and Pan's eyes widened a bit.

"Huh?" Goku muttered as he began to notice a huge power fluctuate within Choi and Gohan paused celebrating with Videl to notice as well. Goku stared at Choi for a moment before a memory from earlier came to his mind when he heard Arugula say that Pan was in danger and his eyes widened in shock.

He glanced up and saw that the skies above were changing, bringing in storm clouds. When they obscured the sun, eyes were starting to stare upward and people began to mutter that there's a storm coming. Piccolo could overhear a lot of the comments and he stared at the stage rather than the sky. _That's no storm._

Kelerot, who had been intrigued by the fight, frowned as he could feel Choi's power growing inside and stared at the boy.

Broly looked a bit more uncomfortable as he watched the anger swelling within his son and he felt his heart racing out of anxiety for what's to come.

"YOU HURT ME…" Choi said but his voice was both calm and deep and Pan could see a change in his eyes. He had his mother's lavender colored eyes, but those were changing into a frightful yellow. Choi's anger was causing his energy to swell up to unexpected heights and the unusual storm clouds were shooting lighting bolts down around the island as the ground shook violently. Choi's fists were shaking, as was his body and his muscles began to grow a bit and his hair stood up a bit more and Pan wasn't sure what to make of this but she knew she was feeling a growing sense of dread as she watched Choi lose control of his senses and his anger taking over.

"I~HATE~YOU!" Choi screamed and his aura blared outward, the wild energy and the ground shaking causing panic in the crowd as they weren't prepared for this, nor was Goku and everyone else. All Pan could do was keep a firm control over herself and prepare for the worst, a trickle of sweat coming down the side of her face.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 – "A beastly power emerges! A brave Pan stands her ground."**

 **Blinding rage…**

Dark storm clouds rolled over the island, shooting erratic lightning across the landscape, one of which struck the very stage that Pan and Choi were standing on. Shards of slabs broke apart from the impact and flew outward while the crowd was in a panic, frantically figuring out what is going on.

For Goku and the others, they were more aware of the situation that had arisen. Choi was punched hard in the face from a powerful right hook from Pan. The punch was strong enough to break his nose and soaked most of his face in his own blood as one of his eyes popped a blood vessel from the impact. The disturbing visual of a young boy with his face bloodied this much unnerved Cheelai as she covered Arugula's eyes, deciding to hold her close to keep her from watching, while Broly, Bok, and Lemo couldn't believe that Choi had lost control of his temper to this extent.

Choi's howl of rage amplified his power as his muscles expanded by at least an inch. Pan felt the heat coming off of Choi's energy as trickles of sweat beaded down on her face. Her smile faded when she saw how angry Choi looked and it was making her feel uncomfortable. She decided to take up a fighting stance and power up, preparing herself for what's to come.

Goku, on the other hand, wasn't sure this was a wise course of action as he could sense how much power was festering itself within Choi and compared it to Pan's.

He slowly shook his head. "This is a bad idea; she needs to get out of the ring immediately."

Gohan actually agreed and nodded. Videl was very much on board with this notion and called out to Pan.

"Pan! Get out of there!" she shouted as loud as she could. Pan glanced up at her mother, confused.

"I can't! I'll lost if I leave the ring!" she yelled back and Goku wasn't having it.

"Pan! It's not safe anymore! Get out of there, now!" Goku yelled but Pan wore her most confident smirk she could muster.

"I have to stop this brat from going out of control and attacking everyone!" she said and Goku's eyes widened.

"What?!"

Videl almost wanted to faint, her face growing pale and flushed. She held onto Gohan's arm tightly and Gohan took his glasses off, looking ready to jump in and put a stop to this. But he glanced up at Goku when he felt a hand hold him back.

"Father, we can't have Pan stay in there," he said and Goku didn't say anything, only stared onward at the stage.

As Bok watched his brother, thoughts danced in his head. Of all the times he and Choi have trained and fought together while on Bloss, there never was a moment where Choi lost complete control of his emotions. He stared at his parents.

"Mom, Dad, maybe Pan's parents are right and we should stop this fight," he said and Broly closed his eyes, fists clenched.

"Dad?"

"Broly? I-I don't like this. Our baby boy's hurt really badly and he's going to hurt himself even more if he keeps this up. I'm worried about what he's going to do in this state," Cheelai said and Broly shook his head, gritting his teeth. Seeing this emerge now in his own offspring left a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and he felt that raw power derived from his anger begin to fester again and the other Saiyans felt that sudden mild jolt. The last thing Broly wanted was for his temperament to pass down to his child and helplessly began thinking if this was going to be the case for all three of his children and this thought made him feel more frightened than angry, legitimately concerned for their well-being, especially Choi's.

Arugula's face became paler as she hugged Mr. Bronto tightly against her and she turned away from what was happening, burying her face in her mother's arm. Bulla was standing and stared down at Pan.

"Pan, this isn't the time to be brave, get out of there," she muttered to herself.

Choi's screaming relented a bit as he breathed heavily, puffs of his own breath steaming against the air as he assumed an unorthodox stance, leaning forward slightly. His pupils were yellowish-green from what Pan could see, but the way he was looking forward unnerved her. The malice he was giving off only gave her more reason to stay determined and tighten up her focus, getting herself ready for what was to come.

Goku, Gohan, and even Piccolo were expecting this to be Choi's Super Saiyan transformation but his hair was still the same color yet his power output was still much like that of a Super Saiyan. He looked over to Broly and Gohan nudged him.

"Father, why isn't Choi a Super Saiyan?"

"I don't know. But we'll worry about the details later. This is bad for Pan the longer she stays in there." Videl began to feel a tightness in her chest and she had a firm grip of Gohan's hand as he could do nothing but watch what was going to happen.

 _If this gets too dicey for me, then I'll forfeit. But I'm all that's keeping this brat from hurting everyone else. If I can just keep him focused on me, I can probably do something about this._

Pan swallowed as she collected her thoughts, trying her best to slow down her heartbeat. She knew she was feeling fear at seeing this kid lose himself with a mangled face of her own making, but she was also feeling determined. She hoped this would give her enough adrenaline to handle this beastly power before her.

Choi breathed heavily again but gritted his teeth as he snarled at Pan and burst forth in such a way that Pan almost didn't see him move. Even in this chaotic state he still managed to unconsciously channel energy to produce speed bursts that were significantly higher than they were earlier and Pan blocked Choi's head from crashing into her face with both of her hands. Sparks of energy shot out from the impact as he was pushing her back yet it was all she could do to hold his bloodied face at bay. She didn't have enough time to react to an incoming uppercut that drove itself hard in her stomach and she gasped, eyes wide from the impact. Choi brought her down hard on the stage with another blow from above her and she bounced hard from the impact, crying out. Videl winced and covered her face as Gohan looked on while Goku stared back and forth between Choi and Pan.

Quite a few groups of people fled from the stadium in the initial panic, while those still brave enough to remain watched in horror. Choi narrowly missed stomping on Pan with his right foot as Pan disappeared in a burst of speed, reappearing in front of him. She threw a right hook that connected to Choi's face but it only nudged him back a moment. He growled as he began to push back against her fist and Pan looked back in surprise.

He began throwing hard rights and lefts that Pan couldn't avoid, blocking them as much as she could. But the power behind those punches was hurting her forearms as she was blocking them and she winced and grunted from each impact.

She tried countering when she could, but each impact barely dented Choi, lost in this state. She knew she had to start gaining some distance and resort to energy attacks, as hand-to-hand combat was taking its toll on her arms with all the blocking she had to do. She took to the air and fired off a barrage of energy blasts that hit Choi but did little damage to him. He walked towards her but tanking each energy blast meant that Pan had to up the ante and draw on more power to at least make an effective attack work.

Raising her energy output, she cupped her hands to her side to charge up a Kamehameha blast, ready to strike at Choi.

She let loose with the energy beam with a scream and Choi took to the air right before the beam could hit him. The beam went through the building behind the stage, creating a large hole in the process before it tapered off and disappeared.

Pan cried out and saw that Choi was darting right for her. Again, her reaction time wasn't fast enough to elude what was coming and she ended up taking a knee to the face, rocking her flying back. She did manage to stop herself from crashing into one of the buildings but Choi was hot on her heels. Even in his state, he was still focused squarely on Pan, some measure of himself still not blinded by his fury.

He fired off several energy blasts at Pan that were dodged but he was still on her, continuing his assault. Pan had to fly as high as she could so Choi wouldn't direct any of those blasts at the crowd and felt she needed to divert his attention as best as she could. Using her split form ability, she split into two separate Pans, each flying in opposite directions to confuse Choi. She multiplied again, and again, until she reached her threshold of sixteen copies surrounding Choi.

"She's taken too much damage to even be effective with that technique," Goku stated, staring up at all of them. Gohan couldn't say anything and Videl was too panic-stricken at this point to utter a single word.

Choi darted his gaze around him and growled even more, his fists and arms shaking and channeled energy into a green aura that surrounded his body. Goku's eyes widened a bit as he recognized that kind of energy and Broly seemed to be familiar with it as well. He could remember bits of his original fight with Goku and Vegeta years ago and remembered being in a green aura, figuring that there was a striking similarity in Choi manifesting itself before him.

Choi screamed as he shot energy blasts outward in all directions, not caring what was being hit and Pan did what she could to deflect them away from the crowd. She wasn't expecting this kind of attack from him and needed to do something fast.

"Hey, follow me! Up here, brat!" one of them yelled down at him and they all took to the air, flying higher. Choi burst forth right at her and aimed for one of them that hit her squarely in the face. The copies began to flicker and fade, forcing Pan to re-merge herself together again. When she was back as one again, she flew up and . She tried her best to move as fast as she could to draw Choi away from the crowd and hopefully find a solution to bring him back to his senses and end this, but Choi's power and speed were overwhelming her, putting her in a bad spot.

She drew him back to the stage but she caught a hard left to the side of her face and another downward chop sent her flying down to crash into the tiles. Choi flew down to follow up with another punch and Pan managed to narrowly avoid getting hit again as Choi's punch hit nothing but slabs of concrete, smashing through them causing a crater to form as deep cracks appeared around the impact site. Choi screamed again as he roared outward with his fists clenched and Pan backed away a few steps to charge another Kamehameha from her hands.

"Whatever it takes, no matter what, I will stop you and get you back to your senses," Pan muttered as the bluish-white energy grew within her cupped hands. She put forth even more power into this than before, needing to tap deeper into her well of energy that the Supreme Kai graciously unlocked for her. She didn't realize she needed to go this high, not for a tournament match. She knew this level of energy was meant for more dangerous fights in the near future if it ever came to that, but she felt as though this was becoming a life or death situation and that Choi was in a such an enraged state that one mistake could cost her her life.

Choi screamed outward again and from his mouth he fired a huge green energy blast at Pan, who retaliated with the blue-white energy beam that connected against it. It was causing the earth to shake around them and forcing more people in the crowd to flee, deciding it wasn't worth it to stay for this. Not even the announcer knew what was going to transpire from this and was at a loss for words, electing to hide near a chunk of the stage that had been broken off earlier.

Pan grunted as she held onto the beam but felt Choi's energy blast was pushing back against hers and it was gaining the advantage. _Dammit, I need to put in more power._

She realized that she was reaching levels that were taking her closer and closer to her limit and began to wonder if this was worth putting so many lives like this at risk to stop Choi from rampaging. But she decided against her better judgement and would continue onward. _Not yet, I will not give up yet. I HAVE to stop him!_

She screamed as she put forth more power into the Kamehameha and it started pushing Choi's energy back towards him and he retaliated back with another burst of energy that pushed it right back at Pan and she felt herself pushed back from the force, dragging her feet along the concrete.

"Dammit," she muttered under her breath. Choi pushed through with another burst of energy and the two erupted, exploding. The blast took out most of the fighting stage from within, leaving most of the outer rim intact that could still separate the outside part from inside. Pan covered her face from the blast as Choi stood watching, breathing heavily again. He faltered a bit but still stood, which Goku took notice of.

"He's overexerting himself. It won't be long until he passes out from exhaustion and blood loss," Goku said.

When the dust settled, there were still a few patches of tiles that remained, but there was a great deal of the stage gone from the explosion and pan had to gauge where everything was so she wouldn't accidentally fall off. Choi flew right at her like a bullet and caught her with a nasty headbutt against her forehead, causing her to stagger back, screaming in pain. Gohan reacted by almost taking off to rescue Pan, but Goku grabbed his arm.

"Gohan!"

Gohan glanced back at his father. Part of him, the father in him, was giving Goku a pleading look, asking him why he's not letting him get his daughter out of there. But there was also the fighter in him that acknowledged the hidden code of honour behind these fights that compelled them to just sit back and watch until an absolute outcome was decided in the end. As much as he hated watching this unfold, he didn't realize this was eating away at Goku even more. Goku knew the best solution was to get Pan out of there and deal with Choi himself, but he couldn't bear with the thought that this would disrespect Pan. She still had a look of determination that Goku couldn't ignore.

Pan blocked a fist from Choi but it cut through her defense and hit her in the face, though not as impactful as the headbutt was. She was moving as fast as she could but it was clear that the hits she was taking were cutting deep into her power and it was starting to fade fast. She moved to counter but each hit that connected with Choi only seemed to anger him even more and he hit her with a body blow so fierce that it lifted her off her feet. She recovered quickly enough to grab his knee that he was lifting up to kick her again and connected with a roundhouse kick to his face, causing blood to splatter outward. He staggered a couple steps backward but glanced back with more growling and that one bloodshot eye that unnerved her.

She unloaded another barrage of punches but Choi was too fast for her now and was easily dodging them. The accumulated damage she felt was slowing down her movement and she grew visibly more frustrated at her lack of progress. It was then that Choi's next move would turn the tide of this fight completely.

Pan reached forward with a left hook and Choi dodged it by flipping over her. When he landed, he immediately turned around and flew back at blinding speeds towards her as she was still moving forward. She prepared to block him with but his roundhouse kick hit her so hard in her right arm that Pan felt the bone snap completely and her eyes widened in shock and panic, her mouth hanging open and agape. This stunned the crowd into silence as Goku and Gohan looked on in shock, and Videl about to scream in sheer panic. Bulla covered her mouth with her hands as her eyes widened, while Cheelai's face went pale a bit. Piccolo couldn't believe his eyes either as he watched Choi's kick break Pan's arm. Bok, Broly, and Lemo were too shocked to even process a reaction to this.

Pan staggered forward a few steps and grabbed her right arm instinctively. She never felt a pain like this before in her life and didn't know how to process this. She wanted to scream but it wasn't coming out of her mouth. Her eyes were wide open and she looked back and forth. In her panic, she tried to sense Choi behind her but the excruciating pain in her arm was muddling her focus. There was a scream, that of her mother, and she heard it loud and clear. Her breathing was shaky as well as her body and she was in a state of fight or flight at this point. This whole moment felt like it moved in slow-motion for her as her mind was racing.

 _I can hear mom screaming. I…I can't feel my arm anymore. I can't focus on Choi anymore. I can't think straight. I…I…I…_

But as she began to process her thoughts more clearly, she was struck again in the back by Choi's right fist that sent her flying forward. In her panic, she could see her right arm hang awkwardly by her side, not a single ounce of power able to bring it back up. She could see the outside of the stage coming closer to her and she began to feel the resolve to meet it head on. She began to feel that this was a lost cause and decided to take the loss and land outside of the stage. Hopefully then someone can come knock some sense back into him before he tears this whole island apart, or worse.

But as she was ready to land outside, a hand grabbed her ankle and she gasped in shock. Choi wasn't ready to throw her out just yet. She glanced back quickly in her state of panic but only saw his face breathing heavily. He pulled her back in and slammed her hard face-first onto the stage, and she cried out in agony from the impact.

Videl's tears were now flowing down her face. "Make it stop."

Her voice seemed to fall on deaf ears as all eyes were glued onto the scene below. Choi planted his foot down on Pan's face, pressing down against the side and she cried out in pain and panic as he was pushing her into the stage with his foot.

Videl covered her mouth, stifling her sobs as the sight before her triggered something from her memory. This was becoming all too familiar to her now as she remembered a painful part of her past.

Her mind flashed back years ago when she fought a crazed lunatic called Spopovich. She thought for sure that she had the match won but this brute was possessed of an otherworldly strength that gave him insane resilience and inhuman levels of strength and endurance she could not comprehend. It wasn't long until she was suffering considerable damage to the point she was fearing for her life as he punished her mercilessly.

Seeing her daughter gradually suffer the same fate, she clutched Gohan's sleeve even harder and pulled him towards her, looking up at him.

"PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP!" She screamed at him and Gohan gritted his teeth, closing his eyes. He too began to remember some of the similar instances from his point of view about Videl's brutal defeat at the hands of Spopovich and he felt his anger rise up within him.

Pan reached up with her good arm and grabbed Choi's ankle to try and lift it off of her head, gritting her teeth. She could hear her mother's cries and felt determination come back to her. _No, I can't let him beat me, I can't bear to see mom like this!_

She fired off an energy blast up at Choi, which forced him to step back instinctively and she used this to get back up but it was all she could to just get on her knees and her left arm, the right arm dangling like a wet noodle. She grabbed her right arm as she stood up and stared back at Choi, who breathed heavily again and his blank glares of malice didn't seem to phase her anymore. She felt compelled to wear a brave grin through her scratched up and bloodied face, scraped from Choi's blows, with a nasty gash dripping blood from her forehead, not quite getting into her eyes but a couple drops coming close.

She glanced back at her parents and could see how hurt they looked from this, hoping that the look she could give them would put them at ease but it looked much worse from their viewpoint.

"Pan! Get out of there, you've done enough!" Gohan screamed at her. Pan's never seen her father this angry before and she decided to maintain her determined expression.

"Pan! Please, give up and leave!" Bulla shouted, on board with Gohan's pleas. Pan glanced at Choi, her smile not fading in the slightest.

"I know I can't win this, but rest assured I'll knock your sorry butt back to your senses before this fight's over," she said and brought two fingers up to her face. Piccolo gasped in shock at what she was attempting.

"She wouldn't!" he cried.

Even Goku caught on and reacted the same way.

"Pan! You can't use that technique! You'll kill him if you do!" Goku yelled at her but she wasn't staring at him. This caused an audible gasp from Cheelai, who stared at Pan and it dawned on her what she was doing.

"Wait, isn't that the same technique she was using against Bulla?" she said and Bulla now reacted in surprise.

The tips of Pan's fingers were building up energy and she stared at Choi, who looked like he was almost spent. His heavy breathing was becoming more pronounced but he was still giving off a lot of power from his stance and she felt that this was her one last chance to knock him down.

She wasn't sure how much damage this was going to do or where this was going to hit him, but she was putting all her stock on one last ditch effort with a Special Beam Cannon. She had built up enough power to fire it at this point, and all she could do now was wait for an opening. She felt that if she fired it now where she was, he might dodge it and that would ruin her one chance, so she had to buy as much time to find the right moment while she was still conscious enough. The pain from the broken arm and the extensive damage she's taken so far were wearing her down so much that she felt her mind grow hazy with each passing moment.

She needed to get the momentum going otherwise she was going to pass out and the energy she gathered would fade away, killing her one shot. She took off on a sprint along the uneven terrain of the stage, running around Choi to get his attention and he reacted with a growl and a cry of rage as he darted forth at her with a burst of speed. He appeared in front of her after a quick burst and he grabbed her by the hair and hit her in the face again with a headbutt, making her stagger back. She almost lost the energy she had gathered from his impact, disorienting her, but she kept her determination up. But her eyes widened at the sight of an energy blast coming right at her from Choi's outstretched hand and it sent her flying back.

This was the moment she needed and thrust her left arm forward, firing the Special Beam Cannon at Choi as he let loose his energy blast and it shot right towards him. He didn't expect what was coming his way and as Pan was flying backwards, her trajectory was moving her to the outside of the stage, while her attack was on a collision course with Choi's face.

It hit him with a sickening thud, rocking his head back. Blood sprayed like a heavy mist from his face after the energy collided and he fell down on his back, while Pan landed outside on the ground below, passed out before she even hit the ground. Both of them were out, and it was only a matter of time and quick sensing of energy to determine what sort of state the two of them were in.

The announcer had enough of his bearings together to rush to the stage and check up on Choi, wincing at the sight of his mangled face, unrecognizable when you looked at it more closely and he checked for a pulse. It was faint but it was there and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ladies and gentlemen, contestant Choi is down. But I can feel a pulse so he is still alive. Contestant Pan…has landed outside of the stage. The winner of this match is Contestant Choi."

There was no bravado, no cheers or reactions coming from anyone, just dead air. The medical staff quickly came in with stretchers as Choi's muscles went back down to their normal size. Both Pan and Choi were loaded onto their respective stretchers and carried off towards the island's hospital while Gohan was holding Videl tightly against him, consoling her. Goku put a hand on his son's shoulder and glanced back at Piccolo, who had a grim expression on his face.

"You should go immediately to check up on Pan," he told the two and Gohan nodded, nudging Videl to head out quickly. He walked over to Cheelai and Broly with a solemn expression on his face, staring up at the larger Saiyan.

"Did you know?" Goku asked him. Broly stared down, then looked away.

"No, I didn't."

Goku sighed, then glanced down at Arugula and something dawned on him as he looked at her more closely. He knelt down on one knee and Arugula turned around to look at her mother, then at Goku.

"You said Pan was in danger before the match started," he told her. Arugula nodded but didn't say anything at first. She held up Mr. Bronto to her face and looked at him with a sad expression.

"Mr. Bronto was right about big brother. Pan-Pan looked the same as the Pan-Pan I saw in my dream too."

Goku's eyes widened a bit.

"What do you mean?"

"I had a dream where I saw Pan-Pan but her arm looked really weird. But why was her arm looking that outside of the dream? I asked Mr. Bronto but he didn't know."

"We'll talk about this later. I really need to see Choi," Cheelai said but Arugula shook her head.

"Arugula, come on, we all need to go."

"No!" Arugula cried out and that caught Cheelai by surprise.

"No?"

"I don't want to see big brother! His face is too scary!" Arugula cried out and hugged Mr. Bronto against her face. Bok walked over to them.

"Bulla? Can you watch over Arugula for us, then? We'll go see my brother in her stead," Bok said and Bulla nodded. Her face was still a bit pale from the outcome of the match and looked around nervously as the tension of the crowd leaving felt heavy in the air. She reached over to take Arugula's hand and squeezed it.

"Come on, let's go visit Pan-Pan, okay? I think she'd want to see you," Bulla said and Arugula nodded behind Mr. Bronto. She glanced up at Goku.

"I'm kind of glad Uub wasn't there to witness this. I can't imagine what he would've done if he had seen this all unfold."

"Yeah. The question now is whether Choi is fit to compete in the final match or not," Goku said and glanced back at Broly and Cheelai as they began to walk out of the stands with Bok and Lemo. Lemo stopped for a moment and turned to face Goku and the others.

"I've watched those kids fight and train since they were wee ones and despite what any of you might think, I ask that you don't put any blame on Choi for this," Lemo said and ran back to Broly. Goku instinctively felt in his gi for the bag with the senzu beans in it and felt a tinge of panic when he couldn't feel it.

"Something the matter?" Bulla asked.

"I can't remember where I placed the senzu beans I brought with us," Goku said. If he remembered correctly, there would only be two left in the bag, and both would be needed to heal Choi and Pan.

"I think Uub had them last I checked. When Pan gave one to Uub, she handed off the bag to him. But he might still be asleep though."

"Then I'll have to ask Buu instead to heal them so we can save them for another time," Goku said and took to the air to go look for Buu, who might've returned to spend time with Hercule. He felt that Uub needed the sleep after the stress he's been through and wanted him to be well-rested by the time the final match took place. He glanced down at the state of the stage though and wondered if there might be a delay in the finals to give the grounds crew enough time to repair the stage and make it good as new again. He also locked eyes with Kelerot for a moment but ignored him for now so he could focus on finding Hercule and Buu.

Kelerot stood calmly with his hands behind his back, looking closely at the damaged stage. He sighed, thinking about the match as a whole and sighed again out of disappointment towards Choi, thinking about the state he was in and the blind rage he had found himself under. The air was tinged with bloodlust coming from Choi as he watched him fight and he felt something he hadn't anticipated before. He felt intrigued by Choi's level of power yet he also felt a degree of discomfort in how out of control his anger was. It reminded him of his youth and how much of his own anger got the better of him. Flashes of his own memories about losing his parents suddenly hit him, then one of when he was arrested by the Pride Troopers and he winced, putting a hand to his head. He gripped the handrail as he felt a surge of anger almost overwhelm him and he had to focus his mind to get a hold of himself. He didn't realize he had crushed the pipe in his hand until he let go of his grip and he looked down at his hand. He glanced over and noticed that Piccolo had his eye on him, watching the sudden burst of emotion he felt and looked away. He took to the air and left to get out of his sight.

Piccolo stared suspiciously at Kelerot as he watched the sudden spike of energy flare up within the Saiyan. He wasn't sure what brought this on but seeing a momentary lapse of concentration from nothing piqued at his curiosity. He watched everyone else leave and took to the air to the roof of the hospital.

 **Meanwhile…**

Tundra and Glacial's search for the Dragonballs brought them to a small village some distance from where their craft landed and noticed a group of monks training and moving simultaneously together in a temple from their vantage point in the air. They observed their movements until they noticed another figure emerge from an archway that served as an entryway to the building behind him. His garb was different with dark colors embroidered with a symbol on the front and he slowly paced back and forth in front of the group as he watched their movements. He had a companion, a smaller being with a snow white face, dressed in similar clothing and he glanced over to spot the two androids staring at the group and he had a slight hint of panic in his expression and turned away immediately after he realized he was being watched.

"He caught us watching them," Glacial said with a smirk on her face.

"Do you think they have one of the Dragonballs?" Tundra asked and Glacial crossed her arms daintily and nodded.

"We could ask them of course. Whether they'll cooperate or not with our request is irrelevant," she said and raised her hand to charge an energy attack aimed at the landscape, which on a more expanded view was a temple with a set of training grounds that had a group of at least a few dozen monks training vigorously together, some sparring, some training with weights, and some deep in meditation. Tundra raised his hand.

"Let us inquire first. If they prove to be stubborn then we'll destroy them," he said and the two nodded, landing on the ground. They walked towards a set of doors.

Cooler programmed them with a basic set of etiquette and manners, which were easily illustrated when Tundra knocked on the door twice, waiting for someone to answer. A few moments passed by and a slot opened up.

"Can we help you?" said a voice from behind the door.

"We are in search of items called Dragonballs, do you happen to have one in your possession or have any knowledge of where they might be located?" Tundra asked. He wore his most polite gaze which still held a degree of sinister motive behind it while Glacial smirked, finding this amusing.

"You won't find any Dragonballs here. If you're not here to learn martial arts at this temple, we must ask you to leave," the voice said and closed the slot. Tundra and Glacial glanced at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Tundra lifted his hand and charged an energy blast that blew the door away and whoever was unfortunate to still be standing behind it. The doors flew off their hinges, flying back and hitting a couple monks in the process, knocking them down with a cry of pain.

"Who are you?!" said one of them and was met with a small beam that pierced him through the chest from Glacial's index finger as she smiled at him. The two bio-androids casually walked along the hallways, and each monk that tried to attack them were hit once in the face, either knocking them out or knocking them dead from the impact of the blow.

The two ignored the monks for now, only countering any incoming melee attacks and small energy blasts with finger beams that quickly disposed of them. They investigated each room along the hallway and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. The design specifications of the Dragonballs that were programmed into their memory banks would allow them to recognize one of them when they came across them but each room came up empty.

The monks retreated to notify the groups that were still training and they gathered together to wait for the intruders to emerge on their training grounds. They communicated with group leaders to pass the message along to the head instructor, the one the androids noticed was dressed in different robes. They didn't get a good look at the head instructor, but when the group leader of the sparring group ran up to him, the instructor looked a bit worried.

"Master Tenshinhan! Intruders have stormed the temple! They're searching for the Dragonball!" he cried and Tenshinhan (or Tien for short) turned to his companion.

"Chaozu, secure the Dragonball and get it away from here as far as you can. We'll deal with the intruders," Tien informed him and Chaozu was a bit reluctant to leave his friend behind.

"I saw them, Tien," he said and Tien looked at him curiously.

"Do they look strong?"

"Th-they looked like Freeza," he said and Tien gasped, wide-eyed.

"Freeza?!" Tien cried out and swallowed. Of all the people he wished wouldn't return to earth, Freeza was definitely on the top of his list. He knew his power couldn't compete with the likes of Goku's fiercest opponent and he quickly turned to his students.

"Go and seek shelter, now!" he commanded and the monks quickly left to head into the main building.

"Chaozu, hurry and get the Dragonball out of here!"

"But what about you?"

"GO!" He yelled and Chaozu immediately flew into the building to a room in the far back. The Dragonball rested comfortably on an embroidered silk red pillow with golden tassels on each corner and he cradled the Dragonball in his hands before retreating with the monks to an underground chamber via a trap door located on the floor in Tien's private chamber. This led to a hidden tunnel in the catacombs that would eventually take them to the outskirts of a village that was overlooked by a waterfall, the entrance hidden behind the cascading water.

 _Chaozu, once you're in the clear, go and find Bulma and tell her to get the rest of the Dragonballs. I'll keep them occupied as long as possible._ Tien's voice echoed in his head through their telepathic link and Chaozu's face grew even paler as he was dreading what might happen to Tien.

When the androids appeared on Tien's training grounds, he stood ready for them and they tossed a couple of dead bodies in front of them.

"Is this a school for fighters?" said one of them and Tien glared at the two.

"Who are you? Why do you look like Freeza?" Tien asked and the female smirked. They had the same physique as Freeza yet something about their eyes were vastly different. They had no irises or pupils from what he noticed but a glossy metallic hue to them, something he hadn't seen before. But their air of hostility was all too familiar with him and he powered up, a white aura surrounding him. There were other monks who chose to remain, some of Tien's top students and they too were able to power up and shine a brilliant white aura, though not as pronounced as Tien's was. The two androids looked equally bored and bemused by this.

"You know Uncle Freeza?" said the male and Tien's eyes widened a bit. _Uncle Freeza?_

"Tell me! Who are you?!" Tien yelled again and the monks moved to surround the intruders. The male's eyes flickered a few set of red lights and Tien's focus was more determined. He tried to sense their energy but felt nothing and his eyes narrowed.

"You're androids…" he muttered and the male smiled.

"Very observant! I'll reward your curiosity with our introductions. I'm Tundra and this is my sister, Glacial. Now, do you have a Dragonball in your possession and will you be so kind as to hand it over?"

"This is a temple to teach the martial arts! We have no use for the Dragonballs," Tien told them, putting on his bravest face. Tundra raised his hand, channeling energy at the tip of his finger at Tien.

"Our data indicates that you are Tenshinhan, an associate of the one called Son Goku," Tundra said and Tien gritted his teeth.

"Are you strong, Tenshinhan?" Glacial asked, stepping forward.

"Master Tien is one of the strongest fighters on the planet and a revered instructor in both the Crane and Turtle hermit schools!" said one of the top students and Tundra aimed his finger, blasting a hole in the monk's head, knocking him down. He glanced down, annoyed and turned his attention back to Tien.

"Don't ever interrupt my sister like that," he said and lifted his hand up again at Tien.

"Will you answer her question or mine? Your choice," Tundra said.

"I'll answer no question!" Tien yelled and fired a quick Dodonpa ray at Tundra who deflected it with the back of his hand and noticed that Tien disappeared from his sight. The other monks did the same and they converged on Tundra while Tien engaged Glacial. The monks couldn't land a single blow on Tundra as he dodged and weaved around each of their attempted punches and they jumped back to charge up an energy blast which Tundra allowed to hit him, but they left not a single scratch on him when the dust cleared and he smirked at the surprised looks on the monks' faces.

Glacial giggled as she blocked Tien's punches and kicks and caught his fist with her hand, pulling him in to knee him in the gut. He gasped and was then knocked into one of the buildings with a double axe-handle. She followed with several one-handed energy blasts that levelled the terrain, destroying the building as Tundra absorbed each of the blows from the monks but none of their punches even made him budge. He crossed his arms and bided his time while his attackers wasted their energy punching and kick him to little effect.

Watching from the shadows was a woman clothed in green robes and she observed the whole ordeal unfold with a shocked and scared look on her face. This was Yurin, one of Tien's other students who mastered different techniques that weren't typical of Tien's school but was respected enough by Tien that he allowed her to train under his watch.

Yurin readied a couple slips of her own personal enchanted papers in her hands, waiting for a moment to use them on these intruders. She could see that he was more distracted by observing the monks ceaseless gestures and decided this was a good opportunity to strike. She darted from the shadows straight at him, readying a slip of her enchanted papers.

"What?" Tundra said, unsure what this new figure was up to as she emerged from his right. But before he decided to react, she attached the slip of paper to his face.

"Gotcha!" she cried and moved her hands to channel energy into the slip and Tundra froze in place for a moment, staring at her from behind the slip of paper. She moved her hands in a puppet-like fashion but looked on in shock as nothing was happening.

"It's not working?!" she yelled and Tundra casually took the slip of paper off his face, staring at her blankly.

"What was that just now?" he asked, crumbling the slip in his hand, tossing it behind him.

"You were supposed to be under my control!" Yurin cried out and at the same time, Tien burst out from the rubble and stood up on his feet. He spotted Yurin and he gritted his teeth, waving at her to move.

"Yurin! Get out of here, now!" he cried.

"Master! My enchantment didn't work on this guy!" Yurin yelled in response.

"That's because they're androids!" Tien shouted and Yurin gasped in shock, stepping back. She tripped on a small crack and fell backwards, scurrying back on her hands and feet. She grabbed a clump of dirt and threw it at Tundra, which hit him in the face and he sighed, rolling his eyes. He aimed a finger at Yurin, ready to fire an energy beam and Tien moved to intercept, hitting Tundra from behind with an energy blast to make him miss his mark and it pierced Yurin in the shoulder instead of her heart. She cried out in pain, holding her shoulder while Tundra turned and glared at Tien as Glacial landed beside him.

"He's becoming quite troublesome, wouldn't you agree?" Glacial asked and Tundra nodded.

"Indeed, sis. We saw that he had a companion with him shortly before he went into hiding. We should smoke him out."

Tien looked back in horror as he realized they were going to obliterate the whole area and stared at his students and Yurin.

"GO! LEAVE NOW!" he screamed and one of the monks helped Yurin to her feet, swooping her up in his arms and taking to the air, followed by a couple of the remaining monks and Tundra glared up at them. He aimed a large energy blast at the group and fired it, forcing Tien to react quickly and fly up to intercept, knocking it out of the way to explode outside of the temple.

"Your fight is with me!" he shouted down at them and brought his hands up to his face. One of the monks glanced down and a look of dread came over his face.

"Master Tien's going to sacrifice himself to buy us enough time," he said and Yurin gasped. She glanced down with a solemn expression on her face, saddened at how chaotic things have become in such a short amount of time and felt powerless to help him any more than she could.

Tien concentrated a huge amount of energy inside him for his signature attack as the two androids looked up at him. The glanced at each other, nodded, and aimed finger lasers up at him. Two blasts were fired at the same time that hit Tien in the chest and he grunted, belting out a war cry as he powered up even more out of defiance towards these two and they reacted with surprise.

"That should've killed him, how is he this resilient?" Glacial asked, a little unnerved.

"It should be expected, we weren't putting our full power in those blasts. The fact he wasn't knocked down from that is remarkable but not surprising. But what is he trying to accomplish with that stance of his?"

Tundra's question was quickly answered as Tien's three eyes stared intensely at the two down below.

"SHIN-KIKOHO!" He screamed and a pillar of powerful energy rained down upon the two androids and they cried out in both shock and fear as they were slammed down into the ground, which exploded all around them, the huge blast levelling the entire area in one singular moment.

When the dust cleared, Tien was breathing heavily, focused more on the pain of their beam attacks than of the energy he expended just now. His breathing slowed for a moment as he saw what looked like two pools of a metallic grey ooze splattered around the area. But this moment was short lived as he gasped, seeing the ooze converge together into two separate puddles that began to reform themselves into the two androids.

"Wh-what are they made out of? What has that bastard Freeza been up to?" he managed to say before he almost lost consciousness. He couldn't hold himself up in the air anymore as the pain was too great to handle and expending that energy meant he could no longer maintain his flight and he fell down to the ground.

Tundra and Glacial walked over to him and he slowly glanced up at them.

"I hope…I bought Chaozu…enough time…" he said. "Go ahead…do your worst…"

Glacial grinned as she raised her hand to charge up an energy attack but Tundra put his hand on top of hers. Tien slipped out of consciousness and closed his eyes, awaiting his fate.

"Wait a moment."  
"Why? Let's just kill him and be on our way to find the other one. If they did have a Dragonball, that pipsqueak likely stowed it away somewhere," Glacial said and glanced up at the sky.

"Those others gave us the slip."

"Let them. Besides, I've thought of a better use for this one besides being a corpse," Tundra said, smiling down at Tien. Glacial glanced at him, then caught on to what he was alluding to and smiled greatly.

"Of course. I was going to wait until after we destroyed the Dragonballs but I suppose we should initiate Project Nion now while we have a viable patient zero right here," she said and giggled a bit, daintily putting a hand to her face.

 **Rest and recovery…**

Goku met up with Hercule, who led him to his chamber and pointed him to Buu, who was no longer his slim self and had reverted to his large rotund figure, sighing.

"Sorry Goku, Buu's gone into hibernation mode again. 'Fraid he won't be of help to you for a couple months," Hercule stated and Goku nodded, frowning.

"Aw, I'm sorry to hear that. It was worth a shot, though. I'll have to wait until Uub wakes up so we can get the Senzu beans to Pan and Choi," Goku said and Hercule gave him a worried look.

"Is Pan okay? Is my granddaughter going to be alright?" he asked, putting his hands together in a prayer.

"They both took a lot of damage but they'll pull through. She fought bravely in her match and I gotta say she has a lot of courage for someone her age."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Hercule shouted and grabbed Goku's hands. "Thank you so much for training my little Pan! It means so much to me!"

Goku chuckled a bit and raised his hand. "Not to worry. One senzu bean will fix her right back up and good as new. I gotta go check up on her, though. See ya!"

Goku waved and put two fingers to his forehead, disappearing in front of Hercule. He reappeared next to Pan's bed, where she had been moved to since they put a temporary splint on her arm while they were busy treating Choi's injuries. Pan had regained consciousness a moment ago when Gohan and Videl arrived with Bulla and Arugula standing at the foot of the bed. When Pan glanced up at Goku, she smiled.

"Hey Grandpa," she said weakly.

"Pan, please don't talk, you need to save your strength," Videl told her and Pan glanced at her mother.

"It's okay, mom. I'm not as damaged as you'd think I was," she said but winced when she tried to move her broken arm and realized she really didn't have any strength to move a muscle whatsoever. All of her energy and adrenaline had been exhausted, leaving her practically a vegetable at this point on the bed. It was all she could do to move her head to look at her friends and family. Videl stood up and glared at both her daughter and at Goku.

"This training and fighting you do is too much! You could've died, you know?!" she shouted and Pan's eyes widened a bit.

"But mom, I wasn't going to die! I said I was going to handle it and I did, didn't I?" Pan pleaded and Videl clenched her fists.

"That's NOT the point! I can't sit by and watch you put your life on the line like this! Not for some petty tournament or to save the world or anything!"

"V-Videl, you're not thinking straight. Please, calm down," Gohan interjected but she glared at him and he averted his eyes reflexively.

"This stops now, understand? I don't want you training or fighting anymore! You're going to school and catch up on all your studies so you can finish and go to college to learn something more useful than throwing punches and kicks!"

Goku's eyes widened a bit. _Golly, she sounds an awful lot like Chichi right now._

"Don't you think you're being unreasonable, Videl?" Goku said and Videl glared at him.

"Do you want me to bring your wife on board as well? She'll side with me and put you both in your place for good! I should've put a stop to this ages ago."

Goku and Gohan waved their hands in front of them at Videl.

"Videl, sweetie, please calm down. Once Pan's eaten a senzu bean, she'll be all better again," Gohan told her and Videl got in his face, staring up at him baring her teeth.

"Our daughter is not growing up to be a brawler! I want Pan to live a normal life for once without putting herself in all this nonsense!" she shouted at him and Gohan shielded his face as best he can.

"Mom," Pan said and Videl rushed to her side, holding her hands.

"Mama's here, Pan. I won't let you get yourself in any more danger," she told her, doting on her fully now.

"Mom, I want to keep fighting and become stronger. I need to be if I want to protect you and dad," she told her and Videl shook her head.

"No! No more of this, Pan! You'll become a delinquent with this behavior and you're showing signs of it more and more now," Videl said and Gohan winced when he heard that word come out of his wife's mouth. She really has become his mother, forcing him to relive all those years of his strict upbringing, all those times Chichi forced him to study every subject she shoved in his face so he could become the scholar she always wanted him to become and earn an above average salary. Seeing this manifest itself in Videl, who wasn't even like this when he first met her was a bit scary to watch. He placed his hands on Videl's shoulders and she gave him a look.

"Videl, let's go for a walk, you're really stressed out right now. We should let Pan rest and recover before we decide what to do after the tournament's over," Gohan told her and she harrumphed, turning around. She pulled him behind her.

"Fine, you're taking me to get some tea," she said, dragging him out of the room. He waved at Goku and the others before the two were out of sight and both Bulla and Goku let out huge sighs. Arugula glanced up at her.

"Sissy? Pan-Pan's mama looked really angry," she said and Bulla leaned forward on the foot of the bed, glancing at Pan with a defeated expression.

"I don't think you need to be psychic to figure that out, kiddo," she said and walked over to Pan's side. She held out her hand and Pan slowly raised her left hand to grab it, smiling up at her friend.

"We'll just have to be sneakier with our training from now on, won't we?" Bulla said, smirking and Pan gave her a weak smile. The two giggled and Pan winced from laughing, but her face lit up all the same, making Goku feel a bit more at ease. Arugula walked up beside Bulla and held up Mr. Bronto.

"Mr. Bronto is happy you're going to be okay, Pan-Pan," she told her and Pan nodded slowly.

"Thanks. Are you going to go see your brother?" Pan asked and Arugula frowned, staring down at her feet.

"Mr. Bronto hates Choi, he says he's a bad person who hurts people," Arugula muttered and looked away, holding the stuffed dino tightly against her. Bulla and Pan glanced at each other and Bulla put a hand on Arugula's head.

"I think you should still go see him, though. He could use the support from his family right now. He might not be aware of what he had gone through because it looked to me like he wasn't in control of himself when he went berserk like that."

"Yeah," Goku piped in, drawing their attention. "He's definitely inherited his father's temper, that's for sure."  
"You mean that big guy can get angry like that too?" Pan asked and both of the girls swallowed together, glancing at him with a bit of worry in their faces. Picturing a big man like Broly lose his cool and go wild was something they didn't want to imagine and they shuddered a bit after they formed the image in their heads. They glanced down at Arugula.

"Be thankful you're not trained how to fight. I'd hate to see you lose your cool like Choi did," Bulla said and Arugula gave her a small nod in response.

"Come on, I'll take you to your family. Are you staying here?" she asked Goku and he nodded.

"Yeah," he said and Bulla took Arugula's hand in hers.

"I know it's scary, but you should be brave like Pan, okay?" Bulla told the little girl and Arugula nodded.

When they left the room, Goku sat down, crossing his arms.

"Piccolo warned you not to use that attack again. Why did you disobey him?" he asked and Pan stare down at her feet, looking ahead.

"I didn't want to at first, but if I hadn't decided to use the Special Beam Cannon, there was nothing I could've done anymore to stop Choi from hurting those people in the crowd," Pan said.

"You know one of us would've stepped in to knock him out if that was the case. You didn't need to push yourself like that when it's not necessary. Remember, this is only a tournament and putting your life on the line isn't the smartest thing to do for something so small like a championship or prize money."

Pan suddenly started crying, putting a hand to her face. She began sobbing a bit more, gritting her teeth.

"I just wanted to be brave like you, Grandpa. I have never been so scared in all my life than in that moment when I saw Choi go berserk. If I didn't put on a brave face, I'd lose respect for myself. I didn't want to let anyone down, especially you."

Goku grabbed Pan's hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

"You're more than brave, Pan. You always stood up for your friends and you got that from your parents. I'm really proud of you. Keep believing in your power and nothing will stand in your way."

"Still, I wish I wasn't always so scared, Grandpa," Pan said and Goku couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh I've had lots of scares in my lifetime, believe me!" he yelled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Really? You get scared? Since when?"

"Since I've fought every single strong opponent growing up. It gets scary, but I also get really excited to see how far I can go against them until this body of mine can't fight anymore."

Pan blushed, smiling up at her grandfather and she closed her eyes.

"Thank you, Grandpa," she whispered and began to breathe a bit more smoothly. She started to drift off into sleep and it wasn't long before she was out like a light and Goku adjusted her blanket before he ran a hand through her hair, smiling down at her. He stood up and turned the light off before he left the room to locate Gohan and Videl, hoping that she had calmed down at least.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 – "Kelerot's weighted decision; a choice between legacy and vengeance."**

 **Choi's recovery…**

Broly's family had to wait a while before they could visit Choi since the doctors and nurses were busy stitching up his nose and affixing a cast around it. When they were allowed to visit him, Cheelai was the first to rush into the room and look at her son, who was still unconscious with most of his face wrapped up in bandages. One of the doctors remained in the room as the family poured in and Cheelai turned to face him, bowing at him.

"Is he going to be okay, doctor?" she asked nervously.

"Your son's unique physiology gives him remarkable durability. Despite the damage done to his orbital bone and nasal cavity, his injuries are not life threatening. He needs rest now, but we'll need to conduct a few more tests tomorrow to ensure there is no long-term damage."

The doctor bowed and excused himself as Cheelai nodded without saying anything. She took Choi's hand in between hers and brought them to her lips to kiss it, closing her eyes as a couple of tears streamed down her cheek.

Broly walked over behind her and put his hands on her shoulders and he stared down at Choi. He felt disappointment, anger, and confusion; it was as though he lost a battle he never fought to begin with.

Lemo and Bok came in shortly and Bok ran over to the other side of the bed to look down at his brother and he sighed.

"Part of me wants to knock him out as soon as he wakes up," he said, getting a look from his mother. "But right now I'm relieved he doesn't look worse than he already is."

Cheelai nodded, then Lemo took his hat off, staring grimly at Choi.

"This whole tournament was a mistake. We shouldn't have bothered coming here if this was going to happen," Cheelai said and Bok glanced at her.

"But why, though?" Bok asked. "I'm glad we came here. We've seen new faces, met new people, I've been having a lot of fun since we arrived on this planet. That Goku guy has a really cool family and I got to fight a real fight that tested my skills. It feels great to not have to be cooped up so much on Bloss, isolated from the rest of the universe."

Cheelai and Broly eyed Bok and wanted to tell them why they didn't want to travel outside of their planet but felt it wasn't the right time yet to tell their kids the truth.

Lemo on the other hand blinked as he heard Bok's statement and chuckled a bit. "You definitely are the smarter of the two, that's for sure."

"Lemo?" Cheelai piped in.

"Hm?"

"Am I a good mother?"

Lemo and Bok were taken aback by that question. It was a heavy question which even had Broly think about it for once.

"She raises a valid question. Are we good parents?" Broly asked, looking at Lemo and he glanced back and forth between them.

"Why are you asking me? You should be asking your kids that."

"But I'm asking you, Lemo!" Cheelai yelled, setting Choi's hand back down gently.

"You pretty much raised these boys more than I have and it frustrates me that I don't know a damn thing about how to be a parent that I unconsciously let you do all the work and I feel so horrible putting that burden on you."

She wrapped her arms around herself and Lemo couldn't help but chuckle a bit, staring at the family with a smile on his face.

"You don't know me very well if that were true, Cheelai," Lemo told her and she sighed in response. She stared at Choi and brushed his hair with her hand, noticing that some of his blood had caked onto his mohawk.

"Why would you think you're bad parents?" Bok asked, getting Cheelai's attention.

"You brought us in, you nursed us, you've loved us every single day, despite how bad Choi can be sometimes. You and dad never stopped that and I don't think you'd ever will."

Cheelai blushed a bit and even Broly couldn't hide his rosy cheeks from that statement.

"Face it mom, you might be bad at cooking and cleaning, but that doesn't mean you're a bad mom. And dad, I'm very grateful that you taught us the basics of fighting that we were able to learn and grow on our own, yet you never once gave up on us. Without the three of you, Choi, Arugula, and myself would be lost."

Cheelai glanced at him when she heard her daughter's name and looked around the room.

"Where is Arugula?"

"With Bulla, remember? She wanted to go see Pan," Bok reiterated for her and Lemo cleared his throat.

"Speaking of which, are we finally going to address the great ape in the room?" Lemo asked and all eyes were on him.

"I-I don't follow," Cheelai said, looking at him, confused.

"Your daughter's abilities. This wasn't the first time we've seen this happen," Lemo said.

"I know," Cheelai sighed. "I didn't want to not know, you know?"

"Mom? What's he talking about?" Bok asked.

"Your sister has psychic abilities. I wish I could say when this all began but I could tell she's aware of someone's emotional state just from looking at them. She can also predict the future through her dreams? Remember when she said she dreamt about what was going to happen to Pan? Who knows what else she's able to do: Telepathy, telekinesis, sky's the limit with these psychic times if they get enough training under their belt."

"I wish you wouldn't talk about Arugula like that," Cheelai said, narrowing her eyes as she stared around the room.

"I'm just pointing out the obvious," Lemo stated.

"But calling her a psychic or whatever just feels wrong. She's Arugula, she's our little girl and we want to keep it that way."

Lemo waved her off as he walked out of the room. "It's not healthy to deny your kids their true potential, just throwing that out there. I'm going to get a drink, you want anything?"

As he spoke, Videl was seen outside the door dragging Gohan by the arm and she stopped when she spotted Broly's family. She let go of Gohan's arm and knocked on the door.

"Hi, sorry, may I come in?" she asked and everyone turned to face her.

"Oh, you're Pan's mother, correct?" Cheelai asked and Videl bowed. She nudged Gohan and he bowed as well.

"I humbly ask forgiveness for the damage our daughter has caused your son," Videl asked and Cheelai grinned.

"It's okay, you don't need to apologize. Come in."

The two walked in and they hovered over Choi in his bed. His breathing was still normal as they stared at him and Videl sighed.

"I wish our kids didn't get so involved in this fighting nonsense," Videl said.

"My kids are half-Saiyan, they would still find a way to fight even if I said no," Cheelai said, grinning at Bok and Choi.

"But don't you think there's a better future for them besides fighting?" Videl asked.

"Why can't they be both?" Lemo asked. Videl looked at him quizzically.

"When their dad isn't teaching and training them how to fight, I provide these kids with a good quality education. It comes from years of dedicated service to the Cold Force. So trust me when I say that your daughter can be both smart and strong without having one overtake the other. That man with you, he looks like he can handle himself in a fight, correct?"

"Well, I do what I can," Gohan said, chuckling nervously while rubbing the back of his head and Videl gave him a look. But she sighed and relaxed herself, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Maybe I did overreact a bit earlier," she said but glared up at Gohan and Lemo regardless.

"But that doesn't mean I still don't want what's best for my Pan, got it? She still needs a good education so she doesn't fall behind and become a delinquent. I hope you do something about that boy over there too because he's falling down that path a lot faster."

Cheelai reacted as her mouth dropped open and she gave Videl a look as the two mothers stared each other down and Gohan put his hands on Videl's shoulders.

"Maybe we should get going and get that tea," he said and both Cheelai and Videl glanced away, closing their eyes. Videl stomped out of the room and Gohan sighed.

"I apologize again for the unneeded stress. It was a pleasure meeting you all," he said and rushed out of the room to catch up with Videl and Lemo put his hat back on.

Cheelai glared at the door, clenching her fists.

"The nerve of that woman! I oughta give her a piece of my mind!" Cheelai yelled and Lemo sighed, glancing back at her.

"Let it go, Cheelai. Stay by your son and let tensions die down naturally. Everyone's on edge after today and we don't need another fight breaking out," Lemo said but Cheelai stalked over to him and almost grabbed him by the collar.

"How DARE that woman tell me how to be a parent?!" She screamed at Lemo and he raised his hands, sighing again.

"Cheelai, seriously, let it go and calm down. Do you honestly think Broly wants anyone fighting right now? What do you think, big guy?" Lemo said, looking up at Broly, who was blushing a bit out of embarrassment.

"I think Lemo's right. I don't want to see you fight and get hurt," he said and Cheelai scoffed at him.

"Tch, you think that twig can kick my ass? Pah! She looks like she can barely pick up a stick let alone kick anyone's ass. Check out these guns of mine and tell me I can't beat the crap out of that woman!" Cheelai said, flexing her biceps, which do show a bit of definition to them and Broly looked down, even more embarrassed and Lemo cleared his throat.

"Um, mom, I think Uncle Lemo's got a point. Please stay with dad and I until Choi wakes up again," Bok told her and Cheelai puffed her cheeks, crossing her arms. She pulled up a chair beside the bed and slumped herself down on it, staring at Choi.

"I HOPE THAT TEA'S WORTH IT!" Cheelai yelled behind her. "Crazy bit-"

"Um, excuse me?" came a voice at the door and Lemo stopped before he could leave.

"Seriously? Am I ever going to get out of this room without people interrupting me?" Lemo grumbled and the man with greying blonde hair and sunglasses cleared his throat and bowed at the group.

"My apologies for the intrusion. I'm the tournament official and emcee of the event but I also serve as the senior chairman of the tournament committee. Most people just call me Mr. Announcer," he said and Cheelai stood up.

"Oh, welcome," she said, bowing back at him. Broly waved at him and Lemo tipped his toque at him as he walked past him.

"Be back in a few," Lemo said before walking out of sight. The announcer approached the two, who gave him access to the bed and he frowned as he laid eyes on Choi.

"I've been informed by the doctors that he has sustained no life threatening injuries, which is a relief to hear," he said and Broly put his hands on Cheelai's shoulders, who welcomed the gesture.

"What's going to happen now?" Cheelai asked.

"Well, this isn't the first time a competitor has been injured to this extent and survived. However the doctors advise that he does not fight until he's fully recovered and is cleared to compete again. How much long that could take I have no idea and I'm willing to postpone the tournament finals until he gets the all-clear. There's a serious risk fighting in the finals in his current condition could cause even more damage to his face and I fear the worst case scenario if that were to happen. I'm sure as his parents you wouldn't want that to happen either."

Cheelai nodded. "Our boy's never been this hurt before."

"I've been training daily with him since we were very young and we've always been careful not to go overboard and hurt each other. Though Choi did dislocate my shoulder one time and Uncle Lemo had to pop it back in."

Bok got a look from Cheelai and he cleared his throat.

"As it currently stands: if Choi is unable to compete in the final match, then contestant Uub wins by default and becomes the World Champion with Choi earing the second-place prize. However, I am no stranger to the history of these tournaments and the unique fighters it brings. I've seen a lot in my lifetime to know of certain items and abilities that heal injuries and restore fighters back to full strength. I've seen food items that have healed people to full strength, and I've witnessed Mr. Buu heal people before. If Mr. Buu is available, I can have him come and heal your son to full strength and he would be able to compete in the final match against Uub. Of course we would consider this a violation of the rules but I am willing to let this one slide since I have been fairly lenient about rule changes in the past if it meant keeping the people entertained with a good fight. I wouldn't want to deny the contestants the ability to test their worth."

Cheelai and Broly looked at each other. While Broly did have the look of wanting this to go through, Cheelai sighed, pressing a hand to her face.

"I appreciate the offer but I don't know if I want my son to fight again. He's got a few issues he needs to deal with first before he can fight again and I'm worried about his emotional state more than anything."

She glanced up at Broly, giving him a look that indicated that she was worried how much Choi's temper mirrored Broly's and he frowned. He began to feel angry again and looked away so she couldn't see his face.

"I understand your situation, madam. I'll give you some time to think it over and come up with a decision. We're working around the clock to repair the fighting stage so there is no rush to decide how you want to proceed. Thank you for your time."

He bowed gracefully and exited the room, leaving the three of them to look at each other, then at Choi.

"Maybe we should wait and see what Choi thinks when he wakes up. He'll want to know he won his fight and I'm sure he'd want to fight Uub," Bok said and Cheelai stared at him. He can see there was a lot of worry in her eyes now.

"And then what? See him fly off the handle again if that Uub kid breaks his nose again or God forbid he does something worse? Your brother has a huge ego problem that I can't control and no matter how many times your father's tried to put his foot down and keep him from getting overconfident, he's let his own power get to his head."

"I know, mom. I feel like some of that is my own fault for not keeping him grounded. I tend to let him win our fights so often he got the idea that he's become this unstoppable force. Had the roles been reversed I'm pretty sure I would've acted the same way."

"That's not true and you know it," Cheelai said. "Choi's got a bit of my rebellious streak in him. I wasn't the nicest of people when I grew up and I hate that my worse traits have rubbed off on my baby like this."

"Mom, that's not your fault," Bok said and he walked over to hug his mother, who blushed and kissed him on the forehead.

"I love you all, but I hate how things have escalated like this."

A knock on the door drew their attention once more and Bulla stood in the entrance with Arugula hiding behind her, clutching her overalls.

"Hi, I brought Arugula with me," Bulla said and Cheelai breathed a sigh, smiling at the two.

"Thank you for looking after her," Cheelai said and Bulla walked in, yet Arugula was holding her back.

"I don't wanna go in," Arugula whined.

"But don't you want to see your family?" Bulla asked.

"I don't want to see Choi's scary face."

Cheelai closed her eyes and sighed.

"Little one, your brother still hasn't regained consciousness so he's not scary," Cheelai said and Arugula gave her a look she had never seen before in her daughter.

"He's NOT my brother! He's a scary monster who hurts people! He hurt Pan-Pan and that makes him a bad person!"

Cheelai's eyes widened and began to water as each word stung and stung hard at her heart. That she had to hear it from a little girl hurt a great deal and she covered her mouth, crying.

"Arugula, that's something you shouldn't be saying to your mama," Bulla told her. "She's having a hard time dealing with the fact your brother's hurt pretty badly and she wants to know you're okay and that you shouldn't be scared."

"But he always scares me! I hate his face every time he looks at me, he always scares me with his face!" Arugula cried and began pulling Bulla back out into the hallway out of the room.

"Arugula, does my face scare you too? My face that looks like Choi's?" Bok said to her, pointing at his face and Arugula shook her head.

"Your face is nicer, big brother. It's not scary."

"Even though we both have the same face, you don't think mine looks scary?" Bok asked again and Arugula shook her head.

"I have scary dreams where I see you both, but your faces look different. You look normal while Choi looks like a monster."

Bok sighed but could feel the uneasiness in the room as he stared up at Broly, who wasn't glancing at anyone at the moment.

"Arugula, I know Choi is a difficult brother to be around, but you can be assured that your big brother makes sure Choi doesn't do anything bad to you. I know he would never do anything to hurt you, even if you don't see it. And looking at dad right now it's making him feel bad."

Arugula blinked as she looked up at her father and her face grew pale a bit.

"Why is papa angry?" she asked. Cheelai had calmed herself down a bit before she stood up and knelt down in front of her.

"Papa's been under a lot of stress the past few days since we arrived here. I know you feel that your brother's scary, but he's still family and as family we all need to stick together. I'm pretty sure Choi will be glad to know we're always going to be there for him."

She glanced up at Broly but noticed that his fists were clenched tightly and he was struggling to contain himself. His eyes were staring directly ahead of him but at no one in particular and his teeth were grinding together.

"Broly? Hey, come back to me, come on down, okay?" She said in a soothing voice. She realized that he was starting to lose control of his emotions again and the phrase she'd always use was "come back to me" and "come on down" to bring him back to his senses and he started to relax his tense body and open his hands, glancing down at her, then at Arugula.

"I'm…sorry…" he muttered before he walked over to Arugula and picked her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he smiled weakly, blushing a bit. He glanced down and Cheelai flashed her OK sign at him, Bok joining in. Broly returned the sign and Bok was the first to notice that Choi's fingers were starting to move on their own.

"Hey, I think Choi's finally coming to," Bok stated and everyone looked down at Choi. He moved his fingers a bit more and his eyes slowly began to open. His left eye was still bloodshot though and he blinked a couple of times before he looked around, seeing his family stare down at him.

"Wad habbened?" he muttered hoarsely.

"Hey bro, welcome back," Bok said, putting a hand on his brother's chest. Cheelai ran her hand across his hair and cheek and smiled down at him.

"Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"Head hurds a lod ride now," Choi said, trying to lift his hand up but couldn't. "Why ab I speeging fuddy?"

"Your nose and face have been heavily bandaged. You nose got broken pretty badly in your fight," Bok said and Choi blinked.

"Did id?"

"Yeah. Don't you remember that?" Bok asked and Choi blinked for a moment.

"I god hid in my faig bud I dond rebember adyfig elf (I got hit in my face but I don't remember anything else)," Choi managed to say, which was a little hard to understand for Cheelai but Broly and Bok could make out most of it.

"You blacked out after you got hit. But looks like your body was still running under its own power. You don't remember getting angry and gaining a huge boost of strength?"

"Nobe," Choi said, shaking his head a bit. He stared around the room and looked up at Broly and when he saw Arugula, she stared down at him and turned her gaze away immediately.

"Dideye wid?" Choi asked.

"Wid? You mean win?" Bok asked and Choi nodded.

"Yeah bro, you won your match after Pan landed outside the ring," Bok said and Choi grinned a bit.

"Dold yew I wood wid," he said and Bok gave him a look.

"Whad?"

"This isn't a win you should be proud of," Bok told him, staring him down. "You went berserk and scared off a lot of people in the process. You're not even in any condition to fight Uub right now, let alone even move."

Choi tried to sit up but groaned and sighed. He stared up at the ceiling.

"That announcer guy said he'd go and ask Buu to come heal you so you won't have to worry about being like this for very long," Bok said and Choi grinned up at him. Cheelai gave him a look.

"Hold on. I'm not ready to have you patched up so fast like that. You have no idea how angry I am at you right now."

Choi's eyes widened a bit, looking up at his mother with a hint of fear now.

"Baba?" (he said mama)

"I'll let them heal you, on the condition that you forfeit the rest of the tournament and give Uub the victory. He's clearly earned that right."

Choi couldn't believe his ears. Forfeit? Just like that? His fingers in his hands slowly closed together to make fists.

"I hab do fyde Uub, baba. I hab do broofe do hib dad I'b drawnger den hib (I have to fight Uub, mama. I have to prove to him that I'm stronger than him)," Choi said, staring defiantly at Cheelai despite his current state and Cheelai glared right back at him.

"You will do NO such thing, Choi! YOU WILL LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

She was standing tall over him now, despite her small frame and she stared furiously at her son, tears flowing freely down her face and Choi narrowed his eyes back at her.

"Don't ever look at me like that," Cheelai spat and Choi glanced away. Cheelai could feel her hands shaking as she had to rest them on the metal bar at the end of the bed and could feel her face go flush from the anger she was feeling. Even Broly had never seen her this angry before and he was feeling a bit intimidated by her right now. Bok stared down at his brother.

"Bro, seriously, don't piss off mom. Just do what she tells you," he told him and Choi glanced up at him, then at Cheelai.

"Fyde, I'll forbet," he said reluctantly and stared down at the foot of the bed, frowning. Cheelai breathed a sigh and felt like sitting back down after all that.

"This is so exhausting," she said and grabbed Broly's hand, bringing it close to her, wrapping it around her like a scarf. Bulla had been forced to remain quiet and stayed clear of the drama and decided to approach the family, clearing her throat.

"Um, sorry to barge in like this, but I just wanted to let Arugula know that I'm going to go back to get some food with Goku and the others," she said and Bok felt his stomach growling.

"All this stress is making me hungry too, come to think of it," he said and glanced at her. "Do you mind if I join you?"

Bulla couldn't help but blush a bit. "Uh, sure, I wouldn't mind."

Bok put his hand on Cheelai's shoulder and she welcomed the gesture warmly before he left with Bulla while Broly brought Arugula back down on her feet.

"Papa, can we go join sissy and big brother?" she asked and Broly glanced over at Cheelai.

"You go on ahead, I'm going to stay here with Choi," she said and eased back a bit in her chair, crossing her arms and legs. She stared at him for a moment as they left the room.

"Cad I go do? I'b huggry do," Choi asked and Cheelai glared at him.

"You are having whatever the hospital's making. I'm not letting you out of my sight for one second," she told him and Choi sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me, mister. You're still in a lot of trouble for the crap you've put your family through," Cheelai told him sternly and Choi sighed, looking away.

 **A conflict of emotions…**

Kelerot flew in the air for some time after he left the tournament grounds and then the island completely. He needed a quiet area secluded from civilization and found a lone uninhabited island not too far off and he landed on the beach. He began walking along the sandy area and could feel the ocean breeze kiss his face. He breathed a sigh of content from how it felt but he frowned once again when he stared down at his hands.

"What the hell happened back there? Why did I falter like that?" he asked himself and felt another flash of memories pop in his head. When he remembered seeing Choi scream how much he hated Pan, Kelerot's own memory of his outburst towards Barbon flashed in his head and his hands darted straight up to his head, grabbing it. He grunted and shook his head, clearing his mind.

"Dammit," he muttered and closed his eyes. He took in a few deep breaths and he could feel himself calming down. He opened them to stare out into the ocean and he crossed his arms.

"Seems exposing myself to a high degree of anger and stress affected me more than I realized," he said to himself and put his hand to his chin.

"Is this a possible after-effect of delving a Destroyer's energy? Is this reflective of what Toppo feels when he's exposed to someone's anger? Maybe that overblown sense of justice he's developed can't tolerate that sort of behaviour. Ugh, this plus Cae's knowledge is a lot to bear all at once that even after having my strength fully recovered there's a lot to process."

He stared up at the skies, and somehow could clearly see beyond the blue skies into the vastness of space. He could see billions of stars, colorful nebulae and surrounding planets light years away, a by-product of the sight he obtained from delving a Supreme Kai. He could see more of the universe than he ever thought possible and this made him both intrigued and nervous at the same time.

The more he kept staring at the universe, the more strain it was getting to his mind and he forced himself to look away, shaking his head.

"No, I can't lose my focus like that," he said and sighed. He closed his eyes and put his mind back towards the tournament. He sensed the energy of the strongest people currently still there. He focused on Choi's energy and opened his eyes.

"That boy. Never thought he was capable of such a jump in power. Was this somehow passed down to him by his father? Is this the power of a hybrid Saiyan? I didn't sense as much power in his twin brother, but it doesn't negate the possibility that he too might be possessed of a greater power. I could delve those two and find out more about the secrets to a hybrid's potential."

But he shook his head immediately afterwards.

"No, I've disobeyed master Daikon's advice one too many times already with what I did, but it was needed. How can I avenge you all if I don't have the strength needed to do so? How can I make Toppo pay for what he did?"

Kelerot clenched his fists but relaxed them when his thoughts went back to the twins.

"But that boy showed us all how much of a threat he's become to those around him. Where did he learn how to fight, though?"

Kelerot began thinking it over, picturing Broly's face in his mind.

"Their dad couldn't have taught them that much; his style of fighting is too basic. The mother's not a fighter, she wouldn't have been able to do anything. Maybe that other one, the one with the headwear?"

He kept picturing Broly's family in his head and crossed his arms, putting a hand to his chin again.

"Master Daikon did encourage us to pass on his teachings, though I doubt he'd want something as dangerous as delving to be taught to someone else. His style of training might help that boy learn how to control himself and avoid going berserk again."

Kelerot sighed heavily and grabbed his head, growling.

"Dammit, what do I do now?"

His sense of righteousness gave him a dilemma now. He felt strongly about his quest to avenge his people and the loss of his planet but seeing how troubled that boy looked to him and how overconfident he seemed compelled him to want to stay and teach the boy.

He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them.

"Kai-kai," he said, disappearing from the island.

 **An unknown change…**

Chaozu continued to fly ahead of the group of trainee monks that had escaped Tien's school when they were invaded by those two androids. Since they had no energy to sense, he wasn't sure if they were in pursuit of him or not. He tried to sense Tien's energy but it had grown faint over time and soon enough he couldn't sense it anymore and feared the worst.

Clutching the Dragonball in his hands, he reached the end of the tunnel, illuminated by a light that was reflected off the walls by the falling water ahead. He found a small alcove that was buried under several rocks and dug up a hole large enough to bury the Dragonball inside, covering the hole with dirt and rocks to keep it out of sight so it could blend in with the tunnel.

"Lord Chaozu, any news of Master Tien?" said one of the monks and Chaozu shook his head, frowning as he stared down at the ground.

"I can't sense Tien's energy. At least the Dragonball is still safe and away from their reach. If we take the path down from the waterfall, we can reach the village where you can hide while I look for Bulma."

The monks nodded in unison and bowed together before Chaozu flew behind the waterfall to a precipice that was wide enough for the monks to sidle along the wall which eventually opened up to an even wider trail that led them down the mountain. They gained a foothold of a few rock formations that served as stepping platforms so they could start climbing down to the ground. These monks weren't trained yet in the power of flight so they were relegated to moving by foot as quickly as they could. They had no time to mourn their fallen comrades and even Chaozu didn't want to grieve just yet if he assumed the worst.

As he was ready to fly down, a voice was heard in his head.

 _Chaozu._

"Huh? Tien?" Chaozu said, looking behind him.

 _I need your help, Chaozu._

 _Tien, you're still alive!_

 _Yes, Chaozu. I survived somehow but I'm pretty badly hurt from their attack._

"What happened? Are they still after the Dragonball?"

 _I don't know, they left when they couldn't find it and they're no longer around. I need you to come back._

"Shouldn't we find Bulma, though? She might be in danger from those androids," Chaozu said. The monks looked back at him with a puzzled look but decided to continue onward, figuring he would catch up to them not too long after.

 _We can go find Bulma together. I'm badly hurt, Chaozu. If you don't come back to help soon, I will die._

Chaozu glanced back at the monks and sighed.

 _Okay, I'll come back, Tien._

 _Thank you, Chaozu._

Chaozu stared down at the monks and waved at them.

"Keep going to the village, I'll see you all later after I've helped Tien recover!" Chaozu called out to them and they all nodded at him, doubling their pace to scale down the mountain.

When Chaozu returned to the temple grounds, he gasped at how much destruction laid bare before him. The whole place had been levelled, leaving no trace of what was once their school. Tien was sitting back against a part of the Temple that had crumbled from its foundation. He grunted as he put his hands against the holes in his chest.

"I don't know if they hit anything vital, I've been going in and out of consciousness since they left after I hit them with a Kikoho. Their attack took a lot out of me, it was all I could do just to hit them once. I think they gave up their search and went elsewhere."

"I'll check to see if the healing supplies were damaged or not," Chaozu said and Tien grunted as he adjusted himself. He felt his vision go blurry for a moment and almost passed out again when Chaozu returned with a box and opened it. He took a vial and poured a strange liquid in the open wounds of Tien's chest when he ripped the top part of his robes off and he screamed at the stinging sensation when it hit him. He gritted his teeth and hissed as he felt the liquid seep through the wound and they gradually began to close up. Chaozu did the same with the other open wound and there was an equal amount of painful screaming from Tien as he did pass out for a few seconds, falling to the ground.

"Tien! Please don't die!" Chaozu cried out and Tien grunted a moment before he helped him back up to a seated position. He wrapped several bandages around Tien's upper body and waited patiently for him to regain some energy.

Chaozu stood up and looked around the place, sighing.

"I couldn't find anything else to help recover your strength," he said and Tien shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. We'll head to the nearest village and rejoin with the monks. Help me up, please."

Chaozu flew over to wrap Tien's arm around his shoulders and he levitated himself to help his friend back to his feet and he had to lean against the chunk of the temple to keep himself from falling again since his legs still felt like jelly to him. He put a hand to his head and Chaozu glanced up at him, concerned.

"I hope I didn't get a concussion. My head hurts a bit. It feels kind of fuzzy," Tien said and Chaozu kept the arm around his shoulders.

"Can you walk or fly yet?" he asked and Tien nodded. He began to feel the effects of the healing salve work its way into his body and a small portion of his strength returned. He felt more strength in his legs and figured that was enough to start walking again and he took a few steps forward, surveying the damage.

"We have to warn everyone that there's androids that look like Freeza out there looking for the Dragonballs. I can't imagine what kind of wish they'd want granted if they got a hold of all of them."

Chaozu flew up and scanned the area ahead of him.

"Bulma's that way," he said, pointing to the south. "I can sense Goku and a lot of our friends over there by the west."

Chaozu didn't notice something was up with Tien. Tien paused, his mind going blank for a moment and his eyes shifted slightly. Red lines faded in and out on his eyes like a cross and a sinister grin curled up from his mouth but he blinked and shook his head.

"Tien? Are you okay?" Chaozu asked as he flew back down. "You looked like you spaced out for a moment. Are you sure you didn't suffer a concussion?"

"No, no I didn't. I'll be fine, Chaozu, don't worry. Let's go find Bulma."

He could feel enough strength to channel energy and began to fly again, joining Chaozu as they took to the air and flew south.

 **Weighted decisions…**

Choi wasn't expecting the next visitor to show up in his hospital room as Kelerot appeared before him. Cheelai was busy napping on a chair beside his bed and Choi was left in a state of both confusion and mild panic as he wanted to yell but only an audible gasp came from his mouth.

"I'm sorry if I startled you," Kelerot said as he approached the bed. Choi swallowed as he stared at him, feeling a great deal of intimidation as he stared at him, wide eyed.

"Waddoo you wand frob be?" Choi asked and Kelerot pulled up a chair, sitting down at the foot of the bed.

"The question you should be asking yourself is: 'What do you want from yourself?'" Kelerot asked back and Choi glanced down.

"I dond know," Choi said and Kelerot grinned.

"Don't worry about it. No one ever truly knows what they want for themselves until it looks them right in the face. I used to have that problem myself when I was your age."

"Leeb be alone," Choi said, trying to put on a brave face and Kelerot crossed his arms, staring down. He frowned a bit.

"I won't be here for too long, but I have been giving it some thought and I think I can help you," he told him and Choi blinked.

"Cad you heal be?" Choi asked and Kelerot shook his head.

"I don't have that kind of ability, sorry."

"Oh…"

"What I do have is the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of the fighting arts to make you a much better fighter than you already are," Kelerot said and Choi managed a grin as best as he could.

"Why wood I wand do leard fum you?" Choi asked. He wanted to laugh but he grunted in pain the moment a single bark of laughter came from his mouth. Kelerot leaned on his hand, staring at him.

"Because that girl was right about you. You've got a lot of potential, but you sorely lack the discipline it takes to be a competent fighter. If my master saw you, he'd slap you right into the next dimension."

Choi glared ahead. He still held onto a lot of anger towards Pan. The more he began thinking about it, the more he felt like she had humiliated him even though he had won that fight. He wanted to beat her on his own terms and losing himself to this power he never knew he had made him feel a mix of emotions, none of which were positive.

"Look at what overconfidence has done to you. You're a pathetic mess who can't even speak clearly," Kelerot stated bluntly and Choi glared at him even more.

"I'b nod baffedic!" Choi cried and clenched his fists but didn't have the strength to lift them up.

"Who taught you how to fight?" Kelerot asked.

"By fadder," Choi said.

"That explains a lot," Kelerot sighed, leaning forward in his chair. "I don't know how good your dad is as a fighter because I haven't tested his full power yet, but he's not that great of a teacher if he let you be as cocky as you are."

"Dond talg aboud my fadder lyeg dad!" Choi yelled and he managed to disturb Cheelai from her nap, who was shaken awake by the noise. When she saw Kelerot, she gasped, standing up and knocking the chair back behind her. She instinctively hovered over Choi, staring at him.

"What do you want? Why are you here? How did you get in here? What do you want from my son?!"

"Calm down, I'm not here to cause any trouble," Kelerot protested and Cheelai glared at him.

"When Broly comes back there's going to be a lot of trouble because it looks like you're threatening my son with that look you're giving him."

Kelerot raised his hands. "Again, I'm not here to cause trouble, miss."

"den why are you talging badly aboud my fadder?" Choi asked and Cheelai glanced at him, then at Kelerot.

"What did you say about Broly?!" she spat, stalking towards him. She was close to getting into his face but Kelerot wasn't phased by her defiance as he stared back at the both of them.

"I've seen his demeanor in and out of those fights of his and he clearly lacks a suitable teacher to provide him with the proper guidance. Unless you want a repeat of what happened earlier with a worse outcome?"

Cheelai stumbled a bit after hearing that, and she couldn't deny the veracity of the comment, sighing as she glanced back at her son. She shifted her gaze back up at Kelerot.

"So what you're saying is that you can teach my boy how to control his temper and not let his ego get in the way?" Cheelai asked.

"That is what I'm offering, yes," Kelerot stated and he crossed his arms, staring down at Choi. Cheelai went back to Choi and gently cradled his face in her hand.

"If I agree to this, when would you start?"

"baba?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, he does have a point. You need a proper teacher and your father can only teach you so much. If Lemo had that kind of power he'd help you out but this is beyond our ability. Please, I'll do anything at this point. I'll pay you if you need the money."

"That won't be necessary, miss," Kelerot said.

"Call me Cheelai."  
"Miss Cheelai," Kelerot repeated. "Keep in mind that this is something I've never attempted before but I've learned enough from my own master that I can teach your boy many things that mere fighting cannot accomplish on its own."

Choi looked away, annoyed. He didn't like the sound of this and he hated the fact this stranger waltzed in out of nowhere talking badly about his father so casually. The fact that his mother is agreeing to this proposal made him feel sick to his stomach.

"I'm open to anything right now. Please help my boy," Cheelai said and Kelerot nodded.

"Very well. However, before we can truly begin, there is something I must attend to. I will, however, leave you with your first lesson."

Choi raised an eyebrow, glancing back at him.

"Add wad is dad?" Choi asked, now curious.

"Go and make amends with the girl whose arm you broke after you lost control of your anger. Show her that there is a compassionate side to you that respects the strength of your opponent."

"Whad?!" Choi cried out, even more wide-eyed.

"How you proceed is up to you. When I've taken care of what I needed to do, I will come back and train you fully. See you then," Kelerot said and walked out of the hospital room.

Cheelai gave him a look with a smirk on her face as Choi rolled his eyes, groaning a bit.

Kelerot continued down the hallway in the hospital, ignoring the staff as he passed them by. He stared pensively down at the floor with his arms crossed and he slowed his pace a bit. When he glanced up, he saw Goku and several others grouped together to exit the hospital. Goku was all-smiles as usual and a small grin appeared on his face.

"Such a carefree life you must lead, Goku," Kelerot muttered to himself and he stared at them as they went out of the building.

 _You're surrounded by friends and family who love you dearly, never worried about what it must feel like to be alone. Even though you lost your birthplace, it didn't seem to dampen your spirits. I wish I had that same luxury but I know who was responsible for the loss of my birthplace and everyone I ever cared about._

He clenched his hands a few times, sighing.

 _Is this really worth it? I have an opportunity to live a normal life now in this universe and make a difference in someone's life._

He clenched his fist tightly and growled, drawing the attention of the nursing staff around him and he let his aura cause several pieces of equipment and computers to burst and pop, scaring the reception desk. They all stared at him and backed away. Kelerot saw the looks of fear in their eyes as they stared at him and he stared back apologetically.

 _I can't do this. I can't get this out of my head. I can't live a normal life knowing that bastard still lives._

Kelerot ran out of the hospital. "Goku, wait a moment," he called out to him and the group stopped.

Several of them glanced at him suspiciously. Broly felt uneasy and began feeling a bit angry again as he stared at him while Bulla nudged Arugula over towards him, getting herself ready to assume a fighting stance. Videl had eased up a bit but she still gave Kelerot a glare much like she had with everyone else while Gohan stood beside Goku with a focused eye on Kelerot.

Kelerot could sense that Piccolo was also nearby, standing outside of the hospital and he felt that he was being watched.

"Hey Kelerot, why the long face? We're about to go have dinner, come join us!" Goku shouted and everyone glanced at him. Kelerot studied all of their expressions and sighed.

"I appreciate the offer but it seems your entourage has reservations about that," he told him and Goku glanced back at them.

"Huh? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Dad, are you sure this is wise? We all felt his power earlier, didn't we?" Gohan asked and Kelerot frowned but chuckled a bit.

"Right, my brief fight with Goku yesterday," Kelerot said. No one was saying anything, yet their eyes said all that was needed and Kelerot closed his eyes.

"You look at me the same way you would look at a being like Lord Beerus. Am I wrong on that assertion?"

Goku cocked an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't see you that way. You're very strong and I'd love to keep sparring with you. I do mean it when I said I'd love to have the opportunity to train with you."

"You carry the power of a Destroyer god in you, which worries me greatly," Piccolo said from behind Kelerot as he walked towards the group. Goku frowned and glanced at the others whose faces indicated that the Namekian was right. Kelerot felt a bit nervous from that statement and turned to face Piccolo.

"So what if I know how to use Destruction energy? So what if I can teleport like a Supreme Kai? I don't feel like this is such a big secret anymore. I acquired these abilities so I could survive. The multiverse is a dangerous place and if I can't obtain the strength I needed, more worlds would fall at the hands of those who have too much power for their own good. What if you had a threat as powerful as Jiren? Who among you would have the fortitude to stop such a force?"

The air grew tenser as Goku stared at him. Gohan and Piccolo glanced at each other, knowing full well what Kelerot meant by that. They remembered Jiren's power and how frightening it was to see. If Goku hadn't did what he did during that Tournament of Power, this universe would've been erased. Thinking about that again put Piccolo on edge.

"I saw a display of anger earlier after the match between Choi and Pan. You looked like you were struggling to contain it," Piccolo said and Kelerot's eyes widened a bit.

"It's fine, I can control it. Seeing that boy lose himself and go berserk brought back a few memories I wish I could forget and it made me feel angry at myself," Kelerot said, but he knew it was only a half-truth. He didn't feel like telling his story all over again to everyone involved here but he stood in a precarious spot, all eyes trained on him.

"I heard from Whis that your special ability has a drawback," Goku stated and everyone looked at him.

"Special ability?" Piccolo asked, curious.

"Goku, I'd advise you not to blurt that out so casually," Kelerot warned him and Goku stared back.

"I think everyone needs to know. I still don't think you're all that bad of a person but I don't like keeping secrets for too long, it makes me feel all weird inside. Don't they have the right to gauge whether you're a threat or not?"

"Threat?!" Kelerot yelled. "I can't believe what I'm hearing right now. I told you no harm will come to this planet or any of its inhabitants while I'm on here. I learned a great deal from my master and keeping promises was an important one."

"But surely you must be aware of the drawback of your delving ability, right? Whoever taught it to you or however you learned it told you of the dangers of using too much of that power," Goku said, calmly approaching him and Kelerot began to feel a bit more distressed.

"I-I only did what I felt was necessary at the time! I knew the risks involved but if I hadn't delved Toppo and Cae when I did, I wouldn't have known that he was the one who destroyed my home planet and everyone on it!"

Audible gasps could be heard from Gohan and Piccolo. Gohan glanced at Goku, then at Kelerot.

"Toppo? That big mustachioed guy from the Pride Troopers? Why would he want to destroy a planet? Wasn't he all about fighting for justice?" Gohan asked.

"He no longer leads the Pride Troopers. Lord Belmod made him a full-fledged Destroyer and he goes by the name Barbon now," Goku said, glancing beside him at Gohan.

"So now you want revenge because Barbon did his duty as a Destroyer god?" Piccolo stated and Kelerot glared at him.

"It wasn't just about my planet's destruction. I was apprehended by him and the Pride Troopers because I was held captive by space pirates and they mistook me for one of them. I was forced to serve time in prison because of it and endured years of hell and humiliation, knowing that I'd never see my loved ones ever again.

"But you wouldn't understand. None of you would understand unless you were in my position. I can't let that monster roam free deciding the fates of those undeserving of their destruction!"

He stared intensely at Piccolo for a moment. "I would get the idea of interfering out of that head of yours if I were you."

Goku raised his hands. "Guys? Let's all calm down. We don't need a fight to break out."

Kelerot glanced back at Goku. He relaxed his body and breathed a sigh.

"I'm sorry. I should not put you all on edge like this," Kelerot said and walked away.

"I'd still be okay with you joining us for dinner. A good meal will help calm everyone down," Goku said, despite all objection to the contrary.

"No Goku," Kelerot said, shaking his head. "I've become an outcast to my own universe when I became a prisoner against my own will. I can't go back to that carefree life I once lived. I've already done something inexcusable before and there's no going back from that."

Kelerot turned around and smiled at Goku. "I don't belong here either, Goku. I don't belong anywhere. No matter how much you want to compromise or beg me to stay, I've made up my mind."

Goku looked a bit solemn but he nodded.

"It's not too late to change. You don't have to go down this path," Goku assured him but Kelerot shook his head.

"My path was chosen for me by Toppo and his death is the only thing that will rectify that," Kelerot said, then his face darkened as he stared coldly into Goku's eyes. "The next time we meet it will be as enemies on the battlefield."

Goku's eyes widened in surprise.

"Kai-kai," Kelerot said and disappeared in front of them. Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief when Kelerot left and Broly lifted Arugula up into his arms, then placed her on top of his shoulders. Bulla pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, while Videl tugged on Gohan's sleeve, motioning him to go with her while Piccolo approached Goku.

"So how worried should we be about him?" he asked.

"Unfortunately there's nothing we can do. Universe 11 is far away from us and only Whis or the Supreme Kai could take us there. Knowing Whis, he'd say this wasn't in our jurisdiction to act and would leave matters up to them."

"Um, mister Kakarot?" Arugula piped in and Goku glanced back but had to look all the way up since she was perched on Broly's shoulders.

"Mister Bronto says that when he looked at that man, he could see a lot of people inside him as well. I don't know what that means," she said and Goku brought a hand to his chin.

"That is strange," he said. "Kelerot doesn't strike me as the type to eat people."

Piccolo couldn't help but roll his eyes a bit at that and Arugula piped in again, holding Mr. Bronto in front of her.

"Oh, Mister Bronto also wants to know what delving means," Arugula added and Goku glanced up.

"Oh, um, Whis described it as though you can touch someone and using their energy to study them. You can look into all their fighting techniques, their memories, and all sorts of things apparently. Maybe that's what Mister Bronto means when he saw lots of people inside Kelerot," Goku informed her.

"A residual effect, like an echo," Piccolo said.

"Yeah. Whis did warn us that the drawback of delving is that it can potentially cause the user to go insane from delving too much," Goku stated and Piccolo's eyes went wide for a bit.

"What?"

"That might explain Kelerot's awesome energy control. He probably needs to train himself to control all those different powers he's seen through his delving technique. But what sort of effect will it have on him now that he's delved the energy of the gods?"

"You mean like Icarus?" Bulla chimed in, drawing everyone to her.

"Oh, sorry. It made me remember my mythology studies one time when I wasn't busy helping mom in the lab. There's this story of a man named Icarus who was given a pair of wings by his father so they could escape the island they had been imprisoned on. The father warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun because the sun's heat would melt the wax that was binding the wings to Icarus, but Icarus ignored his father's pleads and fell to the sea as a result."

"So you're saying Kelerot is gaining more power than he's accustomed to and it'll destroy him in the end?" Goku asked.

"Theoretically, these myths only serve as a reference for important life lessons, but if this guy's going through all those lengths just for revenge against one man, it'll just kill him in the end."

"Unless that's his motive from the start," Piccolo said and audible grumblings came simultaneously from several stomachs in front of him and he looked a bit dumbstruck.

"Sorry! All this talk's bringing up a big appetite!" Goku laughed and Bulla felt embarrassed because she too was feeling it.

"I've been waiting for a while to have food myself," Broly chimed in.

"Same here," Bok added.

Goku stretched his arms out. "Man, I gotta talk about that fight, you guys! Pan was awesome!" Goku's voice faded in the distance while Piccolo stared up at the sky.

 _Flying too close to the sun. What if he's become too powerful for even the sun to bring him down?_


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 – "Their dreadful past revisited! Freeza touches down on New Namek."**

 **Eyes in the dark…**

Arugula woke up in the middle of the night. Her eyes eventually adjusted to how dark the room was and she could hear a rustling coming from the curtains that were closed, obscuring the view from outside. She studied the room and realized she was back home on Bloss.

She didn't remember when she had got back from Earth, she might've fallen asleep the whole trip, nor could she remember when they actually left Earth in the first place.

When she climbed out of her bed, she tried to switch her lamp on but nothing happened. She checked to see that it was plugged in and sighed, disappointed that there was no power. She walked over to the window and opened up the curtains but was met with a pitch black screen. She felt this was a bit odd considering that each night she could see Lemo's garden and the fields of crops he planted. She could gaze up at the sky and see millions of stars shining brightly.

But this? An endless stretch of darkness.

She opened up the window and took a peek outside. The air was still and quiet, too quiet. So quiet that she could literally hear her heart beat in her chest and closed the window after a few seconds of this uncomfortable silence.

Another rustling sound alerted her to something behind her and she spun around to face it but saw nothing but her room.

 _Swish swish_

 _Swish swish_

The rustling noise sounded more frequently and she felt her heart beat a bit faster. She ran to the door, opening it to run out into the hall of her house but when she opened the door, there was the same void she saw when she looked out the window and she lost her balance, tumbling forward.

She continued falling forward, flipping over and over until her descent slowed to the point where she could land gracefully on her feet. She felt a chill, a cold and noiseless breeze that blew against her night wear and her hair.

As far as her eyes could see, there was nothing but darkness and the absence of sound.

"Mama?" Arugula called, but it felt like her sound had been absorbed into the darkness.

"Papa? Lemo? Big brother?" she called out to the rest of her family but no answer, the sound once again absorbed into the darkness.

"Sissy! Pan-Pan!" She called out, walking forward. She wasn't sure what she was walking on, the surface felt hard enough to stand on yet soft like a carpet or a large patch of fur.

Her eyes caught sight of something off to the right of her, a pair of unblinking eyes. Those eyes looked different than what she was used to and when she looked more closely, she could see red lines criss-crossing across the iris like a plus sign.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she called out to the pair of eyes, and several more of the same eyes opened beside the first pair. She felt very uncomfortable watching these eyes stare back at her and she backed away slowly.

She felt something tingle in the back of her head and she turned around to a close-up view of the same pair of eyes staring down at her. She found herself surrounded by those same eyes, only they varied in size from those small enough to fit in the palm of her hand to large ones, twice the size of her mother. One pair of eyes was so large they almost took up the void itself as they opened in front of her and she shut her own eyes, breathing heavily.

There were other sounds that started appearing, breathing noises as well and she spun around, freaked out by all these eyes with lines on them surrounding her. She began to run but all she was doing was running past those eyes watching from the void and she stopped when she saw another pair, only this time they were different. These eyes were framed within a face that faded into her sight. Another face appeared beside it and they both smiled at her. These eyes didn't have irises or red lines on them but were like glossy metallic eyes. The red-lined eyes all moved to surround the two faces behind them and they began laughing. The laughing began growing louder as she backed away from the faces and she turned around to run away as fast as she could, looking behind her to see if they were following.

The faces and the eyes stayed in place as they went further away and she didn't notice the body she ran into, falling backwards after bouncing off of it. When she looked up, she saw her father, but his eyes were glossed over and there was a large hole in his chest.

That's when she screamed…

Her screaming woke up the others in the room and Cheelai quickly turned on the light and saw Arugula scream and toss around on her bed under her blanket.

"Arugula?! Little one!" She yelled and quickly rushed over to wake her up.

"Arugula, wake up!" Cheelai cried and shook her a bit to get her to come to her senses and her eyes darted wide around the room. When she saw her mother's face she buried herself against her chest, bawling and Cheelai stroked her daughter's hair. Bok and Broly were fully awake now while Lemo slowly sat up, glancing over at the two.

"Wh-what happened?" Lemo asked, his speech a bit slurred.

"She had a nightmare," Cheelai said as Arugula kept shuddering and crying. "There there, little one. Mama's here, mama's here."

Cheelai rocked back and forth a bit to calm her down and Broly sighed, sitting at the foot of the bed. His weight almost lifted the head of the bed off the floor so he had to adjust himself as to not topple it over. His face bore a huge look of concern as he watched his little girl have an emotional meltdown.

"She's never had a nightmare like this before. Is this one of those prediction dreams?" Bok asked and Cheelai shook her head.

"I don't know. I don't want to know. Put that notion out of your head," she said and Bok nodded.

Lemo looked at the time and sighed. "Guess we're not getting any sleep the rest of the night."

"Not for me at least. You can go back to sleep, I'll stay here with Arugula," Cheelai told them and Broly nodded. He walked over to her and his daughter and stroked her hair with his large hand.

"Go on and get back to sleep, kid," Lemo told Bok and he shut the light. Bok laid back down on his bed but it took a while for him to get back to sleep since his mind was now preoccupied with the condition of his siblings. Lemo readjusted his alarm for when he actually needed to wake up and prepare breakfast for the family, a little annoyed that they decided to ditch him for the restaurant with Goku but he wanted to make sure that they couldn't ignore what he was going to prepare for them and grinned at the prospect of how amazed they'll be with his latest recipe.

When Arugula's sobs died down, Cheelai was still holding her head against her chest and Arugula could hear her mother's heartbeat to calm her down, yet her eyes were still wide open and full of terror at what she had seen in her dream.

"Little one? Can you tell mama what you saw in your dream?" Cheelai asked in a soothing tone. Arugula slowly shook her head no and Cheelai sighed a bit. She glanced back at Broly and nodded towards him to return to their bed. She leaned back against a wall that Arugula's bed was adjacent to and cradled her daughter in her arms, letting her rest more comfortably against her. She wasn't sure if Arugula was going to go back to sleep, but the sound of her heartbeat helped calm her down enough that she eventually did fall asleep again and she breathed a small sigh of relief, giving Arugula a kiss on the head.

 **A shadow looms overhead…**

Elders of a Namekian village gathered together to help with the planting of Agissa trees, digging up new plots to plant seedlings. When the harvesters and farmers were done placing the seedlings in the soil, a couple of Namekians placed the dug up soil around the base of the seedling and another poured water around it. When the last one was in place, the group stood up and admired the work they had put in.

"Elder Arion, thank you for taking the time to help speed this up," said the other elder.

"It's always a pleasure, Elder Ocari," Arion mentioned to him and the two shook hands. While this version of Namek didn't have as many suns up in the sky as their predecessor, this one did have a cycle of two suns that provided a sufficient amount of light energy to aid in the growth of their foliage.

Over the horizon, two Namekian warriors were busy sparring, blocking each other's blows and locking fists. They stopped and nodded at each other, taking a breather with a drink from their small waterskin tied to their waist.

"It looks like they're just about finished planting the remaining Agissa," said one of the warriors and the second one nodded. He began feeling a change in the winds and noticed that the area darkened a bit, as though a shadow was draping itself over the land.

"Is a storm coming?" the other one asked and they glanced up at the sky. Their curiosity quickly turned to worry as they recognized the make of the object hovering overhead and flying over them to the south of the village.

"Cargo! Viol! Did you see what we just saw?" Elder Ocari shouted to them and the two warriors nodded in unison.

"Gather your villagers and return to your village, immediately!" Cargo shouted at them and Ocari waved at those who were in his village's group. They took to the air and quickly fled northwest while Arion gathered the younger Namekians, those who were still children, inside the main hut.

"Children, gather the Dragonball inside and keep it hidden," Arion told them and they cried out in panic, echoing the Elder's look of concern on his face. He waved at them quickly and they ran inside, two of them grabbing the large sphere with three red stars embedded inside and they took it outside to a nearby lake. They tossed it in the water and watched as it sunk down to the bottom and huddled close to the Elder, who motioned them to go back in the hut.

"It's not safe for you here, go and find shelter and stay out of sight. Pray that we don't see him show his face again," Arion said and glanced at the other farmers.

Those who had been brought back to life before have horrifying memories of their encounter with Freeza, the tyrant of the universe. That they saw this ominous looking ship come into their view again meant that he's found out where they had re-located themselves to and was on his way to gather their Dragonballs again. Their contingency plan would be to keep the Dragonballs hidden in case of a grave threat and to secretly gather them so they could summon Porunga and make their wishes quickly, one of them being that they'd wish the threat sent to the farthest reaches of the universe.

Viol hastily escorted the remaining members of Elder Arion's village while Cargo flew down to land beside Elder Ocari, nodding at him.

"Hopefully, they'll send their weaker soldiers so we can at least dwindle their numbers and buy ourselves enough time to summon Porunga before Freeza shows his face. If we can draw them away from the village as much as possible, we might have a chance."

Elsewhere, the large ship touched down on the planet's surface and a foot soldier bowed to Cooler and Freeza.

"My Lords, we've landed on New Namek," he said and Freeza glanced ahead at the view screen which showed the same landscape he remembered seeing so long ago. He couldn't remember precisely when he first arrived on Namek but seeing familiar territory brought a smile to his face.

"Well, let's get this over with," Cooler said as he rose from his seat. He paused when Freeza casually raised a hand, while the other that was holding a chalice was lowered so one of the servants could pour his favorite vintage, bowing gracefully at him as he took a sip.

"There's no rush, brother. Send the foot soldiers, they can retrieve the Dragonballs at their leisure. Scan the planet for battle powers, I want a full sweep of the surface."

"Yes, my Lord," said one of the soldiers and he entered a few keystrokes which displayed a grid of the planet and several hundred blips showed up around the surface. He rotated the display to show more blinking signals on the other side of the planet and Freeza grinned.

"Just like before, their villages are scattered throughout the planet, each one holding a Dragonball if memory serves. If they hold them for display like little trophies again, securing them shouldn't be a problem. Dispatch and separate your groups to each village and kill any who stand in your way. Bring the Dragonballs back here once you've obtained them."

"Aye, my Lord!" the foot soldiers on the bridge belted out in unison and ran off, preparing their armaments. Freeza turned to the four members of Cooler's personal armored squadron and smiled up at them, hand behind his back.

"A word, brother," Cooler said, frowning.

"Hm?"

"I would very much appreciate it if you did not utilize my ship and my soldiers for your own personal use. On this ship, only my authority is needed," Cooler said, stepping off his chair and towered over Freeza, who simply glanced up at him with the same grin on his face.

"It would be wise on your part not to test my patience, brother," Cooler said and Freeza chuckled, tapping him on the chest with the back of his hand.

"Have I got you on edge, brother? Your soldiers should do adequately. We'll see how many come back with the Dragonballs. I'm certain these four can provide the adequate clean-up job in this instance?"

"We are capable of accomplishing this task, Lord Freeza!" Dore, the large green skinned squad member said, hand to his breastplate.

"I would've sent them to retrieve the Dragonballs instead," Cooler informed him, crossing his arms.

"And suppose they were to encounter a few Namekian fighters that could prove problematic?" Freeza asked.

"Lord Freeza, not a single one of them would be a match for any of us, I can assure you," Salza told him with a confident grin and Freeza cocked an eyebrow, taking another sip of his wine before setting his chalice down.

"Do you, now?" he said, floating up to meet him face-to-face and Salza glanced back a bit nervously.

"Play nice, brother," Cooler said, glancing to his side and Freeza shrugged his shoulders, floating back down to walk over to the display grid. Salza expelled the breath he held in his chest and swallowed. Cooler merely sighed and walked over to stand behind his brother.

"Tell me, exactly what is the end goal of this little waiting game? You've far too relaxed for my liking and it's leaving a bad taste in my mouth."

"Simple, dear brother. The more time we take, the bigger the opportunity for Goku and Vegeta to take notice and make their way over here. If those creations of yours perform as I expect them to, the Saiyans won't resist the urge to make their way here to engage us, thinking they're here to save these Namekians."

"Fine, so long as you leave Vegeta to me. I would love nothing more than to see him writhing in agony at my feet; broken, bleeding, and begging for his life."

That got a chuckle from Freeza as he watched the screen, noticing the different colored blips that represented Cooler's foot soldiers make their way around the planet to engage the Namekians in their own village.

"Why don't we have a little fun with this game?" Freeza said and pushed a button on the console.

"This is Freeza. There is a substantial reward waiting for you if you bring any surviving Namekians to the ship. I estimate your numbers should be enough to overwhelm them," Freeza said, releasing the button. Seeing as the soldiers outnumbered the Namekian villages by a margin of five-to-one, Cooler raised an eyebrow down at him.

"A promise of riches? Typical. I do hope you haven't grown soft that you're leaving them alive on purpose?" Cooler stated and Freeza grinned.

"A superbly cooked meal only requires the finest ingredients. Stirring the pot a bit helps to enhance the flavor," Freeza said and his brother sighed.

"As long as this doesn't waste my time and resources, I'll leave the ball in your court," Cooler said as he walked back to his chair and sat down, leaning on one hand as he watched the screen. Several blips blinked in and out and a few of the white blips that represented the Namekians stopped blinking and disappeared, indicating that some had already died.

The foot soldiers were engaged in a fire-fight with some of the Namekian warriors who shielded a few of the common villagers and returned fire with energy blasts from their hands as the soldiers took cover behind rocks and small hills, aiming as best they can to hit some of them. The warriors proved strong enough to take a few hits, using their combined energy to create a barrier large enough to hold the soldiers at bay.

"Lord Cooler! There are several Namekians with a combined battle power of thirty thousand! Their defenses are too strong for our firepower! We require assistance!"

Cooler glanced behind him after he heard the message to signal his squadron to move out but instead noticed a hand coming up from Freeza to cut him off.

"Don't bother."

Cooler frowned, sighing through his breath.

"If they fail, then so be it," Freeza told him, not looking behind him.

"Lord Cooler, we've successfully retrieved their Dragonball!" came another voice through the communication channel and Freeza grinned.

"There, you see? Some are eventually going to succeed," he said and Cooler stared down at him, a bit annoyed.

"Very well, return to the ship immediately," Cooler said and eased back in his chair.

"I take careful stock of the people I recruit on this ship, brother. Given your track record when it comes to manpower, I come out on top in that regard. However, finding replacements nowadays are becoming scarcer the more often I've received news of rebellious forces amassing in the Eastern galaxies."

"Those will be dealt with soon," Freeza said, frowning. He's been well aware of the difficulties with regards to recruiting new members of the Freeza force given that quite a few have defected to join this growing rebellious faction that so far have crippled a small percentage of his resources and faded out of sight before he could track them. Any attempts to quell this threat with his forces have been lackluster to say the least and he knew it would be pointless and a waste of time to take matters into his own hands. He figured for the time being he'd let those Galactic Patrolmen handle the situation with the help of Berryblue's "informants".

As the Namekians from Ocari's village retreated, they spread the word to the other villages as quickly as possible so the message could be relayed directly to Grand Elder Esca, who held the one-star Dragonball in a safe and secure place. He had two of the strongest warrior-type Namekians serving as his own personal guards, Namekians who had trained in the same manner as Nail once did. Breaking with tradition, they allowed a few volunteers to sacrifice their lives to fuse with these warriors to give them a significant power boost should any grave threats ever emerge once more. However, they were not expecting a threat like Freeza to show up again and sensing his power as far away as he was, Esca could only weather the storm that was coming and hoped the villagers would survive somehow.

"Grand Elder, if you permit us, we can go and retrieve the Dragonballs to bring them here so we can summon Porunga," said Rimba, one of the guards.

"I concur with Rimba's request," Harp, the other guard, stated.

"Thank you, but we can't risk grouping them all together, not when we have a looming evil like Freeza on our midst again. If I recall correctly, they come with devices on their heads allowing them the ability to detect energy signatures. It won't be long before it leads them here."

They both knelt before him. "Understood, Grand Elder."

Esca walked over to an open window, staring out over the horizon as the winds blew and whistled outside. _Goku, I pray you're still alive out there. I hope you somehow are made aware of our dilemma and come to our aid like before._

 **Fully rejuvenated…**

As the morning sun draped Papaya island with it's warm glow, Uub opened his eyes. He laid on his bed peacefully and slept all the way through to the next morning since he left the stadium early that afternoon. His mind felt clear for the first time in what felt like ages and he stretched out his arms and legs, yawning. He took a deep breath and jumped off the bed, flexing his arms and smiling ear to ear.

"Hooo wow, did I ever sleep like a rock!" Uub cried out and he glanced down to see he was still wearing his gi from yesterday and wrinkled his nose at the funk it had brought up. He had packed his other gi just in case and decided he needed to freshen up with a nice hot shower before he would get dressed in his own blue gi, taking the one he received from Goku off and folding it neatly on the bed.

After he washed up and got dressed, he closed his eyes and sensed Goku's energy, finding a place to lock on to he could teleport there instantly. But he opened his eyes when he realized he almost forgot to bring the Senzu beans with him and he chuckled to himself.

"Haha, almost forgot these. I'm pretty sure Pan will need one," he said and held the bag in his hand as he put two fingers to his forehead, teleporting out of the room within seconds.

He wasn't expecting to reappear in a hospital room after he located Goku's energy and he was surprised to see quite a few faces in the room as well. Goku, Gohan, Videl, and Bulla were all in the room and when Uub appeared, Goku blinked a couple of times before welcoming him with a huge grin on his face.

"Hey, welcome back. Looks like you got a really good amount of sleep," Goku said, standing before him with a hand on his shoulder. Uub nodded and held up the bag of beans.

"I made sure to bring these with me before I came here," Uub said and walked over to the foot of Pan's bed. When he saw her broken arm, his face lit up in a panic.

"Ah! W-what happened?!" he cried out, and Pan blushed a bit, looking down.

"It's a long story," she said. Sleep had managed to help her recover enough strength for her to move around a bit, but since her right arm was in a large cast now, she had to be careful to move it around. She proceeded to recount what had happened in her match with Choi to Uub and Uub's face grew a bit grim from listening to what happened. When she saw the bag of Senzu beans in Uub's hand, she felt a great deal of relief knowing that when she'd eat one, all her pain would fade away quickly.

Uub fished one of them out of the bag and handed it over to her. "Here."

"Thank you, Uub," Pan said and put it in her mouth. She crunched it down and began eating it, thinking in the back of her mind how she wished these beans had more flavour to them than just a bland taste.

A few seconds after she swallowed it, her eyes lit up and a huge smile beamed out across her lips as she jumped on top of the bed, ripping the cast off her arm and flipping a few times over in front of the bed to land on the floor. She moved around gracefully throwing rapid punches and kicks and almost hit her parents in the process. Thankfully Gohan caught her ankle before she could do so and he chuckled a bit.

"Take it easy there," he said and Pan blushed a bit.

"Sorry papa. Wow, it feels so good to move around again," Pan yelled and she greeted Bulla right afterwards, the two girls holding each other's hands with huge smiles on their faces.

"So what do you want to do first?" Bulla asked.

"I want to try on one of your outfits this time," Pan told her and Bulla nodded.

"Okay! Back to the hotel room!" Bulla shouted and Pan waved at Gohan and Videl.

"Bye! We'll be back by lunch!" Pan said and Videl stood up, arms crossed.

"Hold on a minute! Who gave you permission to run off so soon?" she asked and Pan paused, glancing at Bulla.

"Mom, I'm all better now, see? You don't have to be worried anymore," Pan said and Videl shook her head.

"No Pan, we're going back home. I want you to catch up on all the school work you had to miss over the summer while you were off training with Uub."

Pan's jaw almost dropped to the floor. "You're kidding, right?"

"I don't think your mother's kidding," Gohan said.

"You can't be serious! What about Uub? What about the championship? Doesn't Uub technically win if that brat can't compete?" Pan pleaded and Videl glared at her.

"I don't care about some stupid championship. I only care about my daughter sitting behind a desk hitting the books! It's time we start setting a good example for this family that would make your grandmother proud. Let's go."

Pan looked hopelessly at Uub, then at Goku, who wasn't sure what to say. Even he couldn't stop Chichi from enforcing Gohan's education and he was reluctant to step in with this matter.

"Um," Uub began and everyone turned to him.

"We still have one Senzu left. Don't you think we should give it to Choi so he can fully recover?" Uub asked and Pan rolled her eyes, sighing.

"Why do you want to help that brat? He broke my arm for crying out loud!" Pan cried out and Uub sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"I don't think it's fair to let him stay in his condition if I have what he needs to heal right here in this bag," he said and Pan glared at him.

"If you had been there to see him fly off the handle and almost _kill_ me, you'd think twice about helping him."

"I'm sorry, Pan. I should've stayed to support you. I didn't want to make such a selfish decision and go to bed when I did," Uub said, looking away from Pan. He began feeling even more ashamed of himself now that he brought it up and Pan walked over to him, putting a hand against his face.

"Uub, you couldn't have known what was going to happen. No one's blaming you for going to get some rest. You really needed it after what you've been through and I'd rather you be fully rested and healthy than worried about me."

Uub's eyes met hers and he eventually nodded. Pan smiled up at him and she wanted to kiss him but felt a pair of eyes on her as her mother stared at her and she glanced away.

"Fine, go give that brat a bean if it helps ease your conscious," she sighed and turned to face her mother.

"Can we at least stay to see Uub's match?" Pan asked and Videl stared down at her for a moment, not saying anything and she pursed her lips. It felt like a long time had passed but it was at most a couple of minutes of awkward silence as everyone waited for Videl to say something.

"Alright, we'll stay," she said in a flat tone. "But we're going back home immediately afterwards." Pan jumped up and down.

"Alright! C'mon Bulla! Let's get going!" Pan cried out and the two girls rushed out of the room. Uub bowed down at Videl.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble, Miss Videl," Uub said and Videl finally cracked a smile for once.

"You're such a caring soul. I think my little Pan would make a great wife for you in a few years," she told him and Uub's eyes went wide, his cheeks blushing red.

"W-wife? U-um…"

Videl gave him a caring look and glanced over at Gohan.

"I want to keep an eye on Pan. Let's go," she told him and Gohan waved at Goku and Uub. Goku put his hand on Uub's shoulder and placed two fingers to his head.

"Let's get going," he said and the two disappeared, reappearing in Choi's room. Broly, Bok, and Lemo were all gathered together save for Cheelai and Arugula and Goku scanned the room.

"Where are the girls?" Goku asked and Bok stood up.

"Arugula had a nightmare. Mom elected to stay behind to stay with her. We tried asking her what she had dreamt about but she hasn't spoken since. She did eventually go back to sleep but I don't know what could've frightened her so much."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Uub said and spotted Choi on the bed, staring back at him. Uub immediately felt the tension in the room grow after observing Choi's heavily bandaged face and his bloodshot eye which seemed to have regained a normal look to it.

He emptied the bag of the last Senzu bean and placed it on a table. He glanced down at the bean for a moment, then back at Choi.

"Just so you know, I don't hold any malice towards you," Uub told him and tossed the bean at Choi, who was able to catch it with some recovered strength in his arm.

"While I doubt you would've done the same if the situation were reversed, I still believe we have the finals to take part in. I want to make sure you're at your absolute best so we can have a proper fight."

After Choi ate the Senzu bean, he ripped the bandages off his face and his eyes were clear again. He felt his nose and breathed a sigh of relief as he smiled, more at the fact his nose was back to the way it was. He threw the blanket off and jumped off the bed, checking his wrists and fists, punching one hand with the other. He glanced at Uub and frowned.

"Hate to disappoint you, but I forfeited after mom insisted I do so," he told him and Uub narrowed his eyes, staring at him.

"Forfeited?"

"Don't make me repeat myself. While I'm glad to be back at full strength and not talk so funny, I've got some other stuff that came up now. That monkey-looking weirdo offered to train me so I'm taking him up on it. Where's your girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend? You mean Pan? She's not my girlfriend," Uub said and Choi chuckled.

"Could've fooled me, fauxhawk. You two cozy up to each other quite a lot, it's pretty obvious. Uncle Lemo taught me and Bok quite a bit about people who bond and mate or whatever disgusting things they do together thank you very much," Choi said shooting Lemo a look.

"Don't think that lesson was easy for me to teach, that was as hard on me as it was on you," Lemo retorted and Choi glanced back at Uub.

"Anyway, you won your little championship. Congratulations. Go tell that one guy that I forfeited," Choi said and was about to walk out when Uub quickly stepped in front of him.

"No."

"Excuse me?"

Choi clenched his fists, ready to fight Uub but Uub stood his ground.

"I don't accept this. I should have a say in this as well, knowing that we're both supposed to fight this match. I don't accept this victory, not when I have the chance to prove to myself that I've worked hard and trained for this. If I can't beat you, then so be it; but at least give me a chance to give you that opportunity to fight as well."

Choi chuckled, staring up at Uub. "You want it that badly, don't you?"

"I know you want to fight me too, Choi," Uub said and raised his hand up for Choi to shake it. Choi instead batted it away with the back of his hand.

"Shaking hands are for saps. You wanna fight me that badly? Fine, I'll give you your match. Let's go find that announcer guy with the sunglasses," Choi said and Bok closed his eyes, sighing.

"Oh boy, mom's going to kill him when she finds out."

Broly approached his son and stared down at him with his arms crossed.

"Promise me you will control your temper this time," he told him and Choi swallowed, staring up at him.

"Choi," Broly insisted and Choi averted his gaze.  
"Y-yeah, I'll promise. I'll try not to get angry."

Choi avoided his father's stern look and walked out of the room, while Bok walked up to Uub.

"I hope he'll get his act together this time and not let his ego get in the way. I think he knows you're going to be a tough opponent he can't take lightly since you defeated me."

"I expect him to bring his best, right Master?" Uub said, glancing back at Goku, who nodded with a determined grin.

"Yeah. You're as ready as you'll ever be and you have nothing holding you back anymore. Your mind's clear and focused this time and that's the best position you can be in for this fight. Fight hard and don't worry about the outcome, just know you're giving it your all against a strong opponent."

Uub and Goku clapped hands together and nodded while Bok and Broly left with Lemo to join up with Choi.

When they tracked down the announcer, they all gathered together and gave him the news.

"Ah! That is the best news I could ever hear! Thank you both so much for allowing this to go on!" he cried out. He put his hands on both boys' shoulders, getting a weirded out look from Choi, and smiled at the two.

"Destiny will smile on one of you after this is over, mark my words. I look forward to raising one of your hands in the air holding the championship belt, as well as hand one of you the ten million zenni prize."

Choi stared up at the announcer, annoyed that his hand was still on his shoulder and the announcer retracted it quickly. He cleared his throat.

"Um, well, the replacement stage should be completed by this afternoon so please make any final preparations you need before then. 1500 hours will be the starting time of the final match. See you then!" he shouted and walked away to join his committee staff and Choi glanced back at Uub with a smirk.

"I can't wait to rub that belt in your face when you lose, fauxhawk," Choi told Uub and grinned, turning around. Uub frowned but didn't seem annoyed as he stared at him and wrapped his arms casually around him.

"We have a few hours to kill before the final match, master," Uub said, glancing back at Goku.

"Great! Time to get in breakfast!" Goku shouted and Lemo gawked at him.

"Where does all that food go when you eat it? Geez, not even Broly can pack that much away!" Lemo shouted and Goku couldn't help but laugh.

"Sorry, I get so easily hungry it's almost like a curse!" he stated and wrapped his arm around his student's shoulders.

"But the big meal should be reserved for you, Uub. I want you to pack in as much energy as possible so you can fight hard!" he shouted.

"I think Choi might want the same thing. I'll go get him back so we can hit the restaurant together," Bok said and ran off to fetch his brother. Broly walked over to Goku and stood beside him.

"No matter the outcome, I hope these two have a spirited fight," he said and Goku grinned. His grin faded for a moment and he glanced up.

"Hm?"

"Master? What's wrong?" Uub asked.

"It's faint but I keep sensing an evil energy signature blink in and out. I felt something like that yesterday but the fight between Pan and Choi obscured most of it that I couldn't get a good read on it. I just felt it again and it's weird, like it's superimposing itself onto another person's energy."

"Is someone in trouble?" Uub asked and Goku closed his eyes, trying to get a better feel for the energy he sensed and his eyes opened wide seconds later.

"That was Tien's energy," he said and then shook his head.

"Wait, that can't be right. What's this weird energy I'm sensing that's messing with Tien's?"

"Master, what's going on? Who's Tien?"

Goku looked back up in the sky and frowned.

"He's an old friend of mine. He looks like he could be in trouble," he said.

"Do you want me to go with you? We have plenty of time before the match starts," Uub said and Goku shook his head.

"Don't worry about me, I'm just going to check up on him and see if he really is in danger. I hope this evil energy isn't something I should be worried about."

Goku put two fingers to his forehead and disappeared. Bok returned with Choi and the two blinked for a moment.

"Tch, your master went and abandoned you? What a surprise," Choi muttered with a coy smile and Uub gave him a look.

"He went to investigate some evil energy, but he'll be back before the match starts," Uub said and Choi shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever, not my problem. You got money, Uub? You're gonna have to pay for all of us since we don't have any," Choi said and Uub's eyes widened.

"Uh, um…I don't have money, no. Sorry."

"Wait, didn't that blue-haired granny pay for all the food when she was still here?" Choi asked and Bok cleared his throat.

"Bulla's still here, I'm sure she can arrange something for us," Bok said and Choi shrugged his shoulders again.

"Fine, let's go find her then. Sorry Uncle Lemo, I don't feel like waiting for your cooking this time, I'm starving."

Lemo sighed, waving him off. "I'll go let your mother know you're feeling better again and give her the unfortunate news I'm sure she'd not want to hear. Hope she doesn't chew me out for this."

He went his separate way while the rest walked back to the hotel to meet up with Bulla and Pan.

 **Taken over…**

Three different parties were all making their way towards a similar location to find a Dragonball, two of which have Dragon radars to help them find it. The party of one, consisting of Bulma, raced towards the other group, comprising of Pilaf, Shu, and Bao. She wanted to engage them and make use of their radar since the one she was currently using had very little power left to it and occasionally would shut off prematurely before she could get a precise fix on the location. She banged on it a couple of times and it reactivated, sighing as she studied the grid once more.

The third party was Tien and Chaozu, flying overhead to Bulma's location. The two were flying at a casual speed since Tien was still recovering from his injuries, so his speed was limited for now. When Goku appeared beside them in the air, Chaozu was the first to stop and turn around. A huge smile appeared on his face.

"Goku!" he cried out and flew over to him. Tien turned around and tried to smile but felt a sharp pain in his head and put his hand against his temple. He shook his head and floated over to Goku.

"Hey Goku, what brings you to see us?" he asked.

"Are you alright? You look like you had a fierce battle," Goku asked and Chaozu was almost in his face.

"Goku, it's bad, really bad! We've got androids on the planet and what's worse, they look a lot like Freeza!" Chaozu yelled and Goku's eyes widened in surprise.

"Freeza?!"

"Yeah, it's bad. These androids are looking for the Dragonballs, but for what purpose we don't know yet. They destroyed my school, killed a lot of my students, and knocked me out but I guess they took off when they couldn't find the Dragonball. I hit them with a Kikoho but it didn't seem to be all that effective. They were like liquid reforming itself, it's hard to explain. Right now we're off to warn Bulma and to ask that she gather the Dragonballs as quickly as possible so we can wish those androids away from here."

"Tien, you shouldn't talk so much, save your strength for finding the Dragonballs," Chaozu told him and Goku frowned when he felt a spike in Tien's energy.

"Are you sure you're okay? I've been feeling something strange about your aura."

"Strange?"

"Yeah. Did something else happen? I can't help but sense small blips of evil energy inside you, like energy that's not yours but it's there regardless."

"Tien?" Chaozu said, now even more concerned.

"I don't sense anything evil inside me, Goku. I hope there isn't. If you're worried something is wrong with me, I might have to look into some method to cleanse my aura. Would you pass the message along to Bulma in our stead? She needs to know that we've got a looming threat on our hands, and because they're androids like 17 and 18, their energy can't be detected."

"I see, thank you for the advice. We'll have to keep an eye out then for those Freeza-like androids if they show up again. Take good care of yourself, Tien, I hope you can fight off this evil energy," Goku said and Tien nodded, smiling.

"I will. If it consumes me completely, please stop me so I don't do anything I'll regret later. Same goes for you, Chaozu," Tien said and Chaozu glanced at him sadly.

"I'm sorry if I've caused you unnecessary worry," Goku said and Tien waved him off.

"It's ok. I'm glad you brought this up before something unfortunate happened. I at least have a fighting chance now. Please find the Dragonballs before they do," Tien said and he started flying off in the opposite direction.

"There aren't many places on Earth that have purifying springs, so we'll have to trust Goku and the others to do the right thing," he said as the two were flying together.

"Stay strong, Tien, I know you won't let this evil consume you," Chaozu cried and Tien smiled at his friend.

Off in the distance, the androids were observing the interaction go down since they had been following Tien from a concealed location. The fact no one can sense them gave them a huge stealth advantage.

"There's no mistake, that was Son Goku, the sworn enemy of Uncle Freeza," Tundra said as he watched Goku fly off.

"He's resisting much more than we had anticipated," Glacial said, referring to Tien.

"This programming is relatively untested. But whatever method he uses that he thinks will help him cleanse himself will be ineffective. It won't be long until he submits completely," Tundra informed her and the two androids smiled.

"Let's follow Goku, he can lead us to more of his associates that we can take advantage of and have them find the Dragonballs for us," Tundra said and the androids nodded to each other, flying low to avoid being spotted by Goku.

When he found her, Goku saw her whiz by in her aircraft.

"Bulma!" Goku yelled, waving his arms. Bulma glanced over to her side and turned her ship around to stop in front of him. She opened up the hatch and looked at him curiously.

"Goku? Is the tournament already over?" she asked and Goku shook his head.

"Nope, there's still one more match to go between Uub and Choi," he told her and she frowned.

"So Pan lost. That's a shame, she's a really good fighter. I guess Uub managed to defeat Buu?" she asked.

"Sort of. Buu decided to concede but he's now in his hibernation phase so he'll be out for a couple months. I came here to give you a message from Tien and Chaozu."

"Huh? Of all the people who need to see me, I never would have expected those two. Don't they have some sort of martial arts school not too far from here?" Bulma asked and Goku frowned. She knew that serious expression better than anyone ever could and knew immediately that this wasn't a playful reunion.

"Freeza's up to no good again," Goku told her and her eyes widened a bit.

"Freeza?! Is he here again?!"

"No, I don't sense his energy anywhere. But we've got just as big of a problem. According to Tien and Chaozu there's two androids that arrived here that they said look just like Freeza and they're searching for the Dragonballs."  
Bulma gasped. "That's crazy! If Freeza wanted the Dragonballs, why didn't he come here himself to retrieve them?"

"I don't know," Goku said, hand against his chin. "This doesn't strike me as something he would do."

"Maybe he had some of his scientists create androids to collect the Dragonballs for him so he could arrive later to make his wish?" Bulma speculated.

"If they're like Freeza, they must be very strong. But because they're androids, I can't sense where they are so I could fight them. I don't like that Freeza has this advantage all of a sudden and I wish I knew what he wants to accomplish with this."

"Yeah, this is a bit of a predicament. Oh come on you stupid radar, work!" She cried, smacking the back of the radar to keep it switched on since it was starting to blink in and out.

"Wow, that's a really old model of your Dragon radar," Goku said and Bulma gave him a look.

"It was the only one available since Pilaf stole the better one," Bulma muttered and pressed the button on top to get a better view of the blip with the number 3 on it to indicate three Dragonballs moving together.

"They're not too far from here. I can get the Dragonballs they found and use his radar to get the rest so I can make my wish," Bulma said.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Goku asked.

"It's fine, I can handle Pilaf. He's not as resourceful as he used to be," she told him and Goku waved at her.

"Well, if you're sure you'll be fine, I can go back and watch Uub's match. Stay safe out there!" Goku shouted before he teleported out of Bulma's sight and she closed the hatch.

"Great, even more people are looking for the Dragonballs," she said and gasped when the radar shut off again. She smacked it a few times but it wasn't having an effect this time and she leaned forward, resting her head on the steering wheel, sighing.

"Just what I need right now," she muttered. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and went over her head the coordinates of the radar before it shut down and she nodded.

"Right," she said, determined and she flew off to her estimated location of where Pilaf and his crew were going, which was in the direction of Tien's destroyed martial arts school.

 **Back on New Namek…**

The foot soldiers who had returned deposited four of the seven Dragonballs in front of Freeza and Cooler.

"Communications with squads A through C have gone silent for some time, my Lord," said a Captain of one of the squads who had retrieved the two-star Dragonball.

"Then they failed to retrieve the Dragonballs and were likely killed by some of their warriors." Cooler climbed out of his chair and rested a hand on its side, staring up at his armored squadron.

"Dore, Neiz, go and retrieve the remaining Dragonballs. You have one hour," Cooler commanded them and the large green-skinned squad member and the other one who had red-scaly skin and a head shaped like a frog both saluted Cooler, hand to their breastplate and bowed at him.

"I trust you have no objections with this, brother?" Cooler said as he watched the two leave the ship and take to the air.

"Do what you want, it is your ship after all," Freeza said, almost sarcastically.

"You sound as if you doubt the ability of my squadron," Cooler said, glaring at him.

"Oh I'm sure they're a fine bunch, brother. Whether they get the job done is left to speculation," Freeza said, glancing behind him with a smirk.

"Father may have given you his empire to rule, but you're still on my ship as a 'passenger'. If I wanted to I could pull everyone out of here, dump you on this rock and leave you behind to fly around the universe. Don't underestimate my squadron, they will accomplish their task."

Freeza turned around to stare up at Cooler and he glared up at him. His aura exploded into its golden color and he shifted into his Golden form. Cooler was unphased by his brother's transformation but still stared back at him in defiance.

"I needn't remind you, _brother,_ the reason why Father was insistent that I inherited his empire?" Freeza said, grinning maliciously at him and Cooler narrowed his eyes. But he too began to smile back at him and couldn't help but chuckle.

"To think my little brother had so much monkey business to mess around with that he had to actually do some training to keep up with them! You may have ruled over this universe but I have the wonderful pleasure of watching you fail at every step. I couldn't care less if you have father's empire. I have a much better present of free entertainment!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Freeza screamed and both Salza and Bonyu backed off, eyes wide in fear, as have the foot soldiers and squad captains who remained behind. They retreated as far away from Freeza as they could while Berryblue casually walked over to the two brothers and cleared her throat as Cooler kept staring at Freeza's menacing look with a salacious grin on his face and Freeza scoffed at him, powering back down to his normal state.

"Your brother always had a way of getting under your skin, Lord Freeza. Despite how much growth you've made-"

"Albeit very little of it," Cooler interjected, poking fun at Freeza's height which got him a sour look.

"I'm impressed only Lord Cooler has made you this unhinged so easily, so there is progress to be grateful for."

"Spare me the encouragement, Berryblue. Just make sure your squadron does their job," Freeza said and crossed his arms, no longer amused. He didn't even want to see a glimpse of Cooler's frame in his vision at the moment since he was still quite salty about the comments and he studied the display to distract himself.

 **Scolded…**

Bulma flew in the air for a bit, the radio in her aircraft playing music to pass the time. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel since this was one of her favorite stations she played often as she travelled. She'd often get comments from Vegeta asking why she loves that music so much but she never could give him a good enough answer.

"I just do, deal with it," she'd tell him after she had enough of his critique and he left it alone from then on.

Overhead, she could see small figures run along a trail to the remains of Tien's destroyed school and she smiled.

"Gotcha," she muttered with a smile and flew her craft down. When she passed the three overhead, the winds she kicked up almost blew Pilaf and Shu down, and Bao had to grab both of them before they fell face-first in the gravel.

"When did the wind blow so hard?" Bao asked as Pilaf breathed a sigh of relief, dusting himself off. He looked at the dragon radar and pointed behind him to the ruined temple.

"Hm, I don't think this place looked like this before," Shu alluded and Pilaf waved him off.

"Does it matter? The Dragonball's in there alright. It won't be long until we've got the fourth one, then we can go after the next one. I can see the goal posts now!" he said, laughing. Bao blinked as he saw a woman approach Pilaf and Shu from behind them.

"Uh, Mr. Pilaf?"

"Not now, Bao, I'm busy gloating. Shu, look at my gloating face! I'll have the Dragonballs and my wish for world domination at long last!" Pilaf cried out, laughing even more and Shu applauded him.

"We don't have to worry about anyone getting in our way this time," Shu said and he too joined Pilaf In his laughing.

"Um, boss?"

"Bao, shut up and laugh with me! We will be victorious!" Pilaf cut him off and the two continued laughing.

"But boss, there's someone behind you and I don't think she wants to laugh," Bao said, pointing at the figure behind them. Pilaf stopped and glared at Bao, annoyed, then noticed a shadow looming over him. He recognized the hairstyle in the shadow's silhouette and he gulped. He looked up and saw a pair of eyes leering down at him with a grin on her face.

Seconds later, Bulma punched Pilaf hard in the back of his head.

"Oh dear, oh dear, this isn't good," Shu said and he prostrated himself before Bulma, going down on his knees and pleading with his hands together.

"I'm sorry, Miss Bulma! It was Pilaf's idea, I swear!" Shu said nervously and Pilaf was still disoriented when he stood up, holding the back of his head. He spun around and cried out, dropping the Dragon radar in the process. He had the bag with the three Dragonballs in his possession and he backed off towards Bao, clutching them tightly like his life depended on it and he stared at her.

"N-now listen here, you! I'm tired of playing your little servant games! I'm going to find the Dragonballs and then you'll be very sorry you've made a fool out of me all these years!"

Bulma picked up the Dragon radar and waved it in front of him with a coy smirk.

"And how will you be accomplishing that?" she said and Pilaf gaped at her, growling with tears in his eyes.

"It's not fair! I'll never get my wish! Why can't I get my wish, dammit!" he yelled, stamping his feet and jumping up and down having a tantrum and Shu shielded his eyes.

"Oh, this is so embarrassing to watch," he muttered. Pilaf stopped and moved behind Bao, pointing at Bulma.

"Bao! Be useful and take the Dragon radar back from her grubby old lady hands!" Pilaf said.

"GRUBBY OLD LADY HANDS?!" Bulma screamed and she ran off to pursue Pilaf, who bolted the moment she dashed towards him and she chased him around the area before he tripped and the bag spilled the Dragonballs out onto a patch of grass. He scrambled to grab one of them while Bulma managed to snatch the other two, putting them in her lab coat pockets.

"Um, should I still go get the dragon radar, Mr. Shu?" Bao asked, pointing at Bulma. "That lady looks scary."

"No, you don't need to do anything, Bao. Pilaf! It's over, give the Dragonballs to Bulma!" Shu cried out to Pilaf and he glared back at him.

"NO! I'm not giving up what I worked hard to obtain! It's my Dragonball! MINE!" He screamed, staring defiantly at Bulma as he clutched the Dragonball tightly in his hand. Bulma walked over to him and he cradled the ball against him. Bulma extended her hand, waiting for him to hand it over and she cleared her throat. Pilaf broke down in an embarrassing blubbery mess and flailed about on the ground as Bulma took the Dragonball from his hand. His screams of "it's not fair!" fell on deaf ears as she took his bag as well and placed the three balls back inside, putting the bag around her shoulder. She activated the Dragon radar again and smiled at how smoothly the device was running.

"Ah, this is so much better now," she said, smiling as she walked over to the wreckage of the temple and she sighed.

"Tenshinhan worked so hard to run this only to have it destroyed so easily," she said, kneeling down to put a hand on one of the blocks of cement that was once a part of a statue. She stood up and looked ahead.

"It's in here somewhere, 300 meters straight ahead," she said as she walked forward. She glanced behind at Shu and Bao, blinking.

"Well? Are you two coming or not?" she said and Shu looked back at Pilaf, who was still in the midst of his tantrum and he frowned.

"Uh, y-yes, Miss Bulma! Come on, Bao, we might need your strength to move some loose rocks," Shu told the large man and Bao waved at Pilaf.

"Bye Boss! It was nice working for ya!" he said and ran to join Shu and Bulma.

When they were inside, Bao moved several pillars and rocks blocking their path to clear the way. Since none of them could fly on their own power, they had to use alternate methods to move onward since Chaozu could easily fly over the obstacles and pass through small gaps due to his size.

In the distance, Tundra and Glacial observed the trio move into the temple and they smiled.

"So they _were_ hiding a Dragonball from us," Tundra said.

"That human woman will lead us to the rest of them. She's in possession of some sort of device that tracks their location," Glacial added and Tundra nodded.

"I suggest we split for now," he said. "I will follow the human woman as she finds the remaining Dragonballs. You go an ensure our newest 'acquisition' is up to speed and completely infected."

"That human did possess quite a bit of power, we weren't expecting a level of attack that big," Glacial mentioned and Tundra nodded.

"Correct. It is likely that Son Goku and several of his kin and friends are equally if not more powerful than the one we infected."

Glacial barked a soft gleeful laugh. "I should infect his companion as well. Once those two have completely submitted to me, they only need to carry forth Project Nion and prepare Uncle Freeza's army for us."

Glacial took to the air and flew off in the direction she remembered Tien and Chaozu fly off to, and it wasn't long before she caught up to them from a distance since they weren't flying as fast.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20 – "The Tournament finale begins! Choi vs. Uub."**

 **Tensions mounting…**

Goku reappeared beside Uub after leaving for no more than half an hour. The whole group had only begun entering the restaurant when Gohan and Videl joined them. Videl was holding Pan's hand like a toddler, making sure she wouldn't leave her sight and Pan looked embarrassed to be seen holding hands with her mother like this. She did have on a cute summer dress that Bulla picked out for her with bright orange colors. Pan insisted she kept her bandana on and Bulla rearranged it into a ribbon she tied into Pan's hair to match the dress. Uub glanced over at her and he blushed heavily.

"Sorry we took so long; it was a difficult choice to make between three dresses but I felt this one matched my bandana the most. What do you think?" Pan said. Videl let her hand go knowing that she felt her daughter was safe around the others and Pan twirled around to show her dress to Uub.

"Um, y-you l-look, u-um…" Uub stuttered, unable to speak his mind and Pan tilted her head a bit.

"You don't have to be shy, Uub, say what's on your mind," she told him and Uub swallowed.

"You, y-you l-l-look…great," he said but whispered that last word and Pan blinked.

"You trailed off there. Are you okay? You're not getting nervous again, are you?"

"No! No, it's not that. I'm ready for this final match," Uub said and Pan's smile grew even larger.

"We're all going to cheer for you really loudly, we'll be the loudest section of the whole stadium," Pan cried out.

"Assuming people chose to stay, that is. A lot of spectators haven't come back since yesterday, afraid of a repeat incident," Gohan stated, noting that a lot of places weren't as busy as they were yesterday morning and quite a few shops were still closed due to a lack of business and Pan waved it off with a nudge against Uub with her fist.

"I'm with you all the way, win or lose," Pan said and she smirked, walking inside.

"Pan?" Uub said, stopping her. She glanced behind her.

"I do like your dress, you look cute in it," he said and Pan couldn't help but blush and put her hands to her face.

"Well, I did get my looks from my mom, right?" she said, eyeing Videl who stared back, red-faced and glancing around her.

"Um, th-thank you?" Videl said and Gohan smiled nervously with a hand behind his head as Goku was the last to follow the group inside. Two large tables were set up, one for Broly's family, and the other for Gohan and Goku's family and they all sat down. Gohan graciously volunteered to pay for everything this time and Goku kept pushing plates full of food in front of Uub, who waved his hands in front of him.

"It's okay, Master, I don't think I can eat anymore," Uub said after some time had passed.

"C'mon, you'll be fine! Look, Choi's practically on his sixth plate already!" Goku said and Uub glanced back.

"I don't have a Saiyan's appetite, Master. I'm stuffed and if I eat one more bite I'll burst," Uub said and Goku shrugged, putting the plate back in front of him and eating away.

"By the way, is Tien okay? You haven't said anything about him since you came back," Uub said and Goku glanced at him. Part of him would've like to divulge all the details but if he brought up anything related to Freeza or these androids Tien mentioned, it would distract Uub and he wanted to make sure that Uub was completely focused on this match above all else. He could see Piccolo observe the group from outside and nodded towards him, standing up.

"I think I've packed in all I could for now! Hoo boy, I could use a bit of a workout now after that meal. See you at your match!" Goku shouted and ran outside of the restaurant while everyone else looked at him, confused.

When Goku locked eyes with Piccolo, the two took to the air, isolated from the island below and both men stared at each other. Goku was all-business with his facial expression and Piccolo knew what this meant.

"Is there another problem coming that requires our attention?" Piccolo asked.

"I'll cut right to the chase. Freeza's built a pair of androids and sent them here to gather the Dragonballs."

Piccolo's eyes widened a bit. "Great, just when I thought we'd never hear that bastard's name again."

"They attacked Tien's martial arts school and roughed him up pretty badly. I've got a feeling they did something to him which explains the evil energy I've been sensing on and off inside him. I passed the message on to Bulma so she's off to collect the Dragonballs before those androids do."

"Are you certain about this?" Piccolo asked and Goku nodded.

"Yeah. They're definitely androids if I can't sense their energy so they could be anywhere. I've got a bad feeling they're shadowing Bulma and if that's their plan, she'll lead them right to the Dragonballs and they can summon Shenron before we could catch onto them."

"Very well, I'll keep an eye on Bulma in this case. If we get ambushed, I'll heighten my energy so you can sense where I am and move over to my location immediately."

"Right. Don't do anything reckless and engage them. If they're anything like Freeza, they're extraordinarily strong and we'll need more than just the two of us. I'll bring Gohan and Broly along just in case."

"Heh, listen to you asking for reinforcements," Piccolo said with a chuckle. "You'd love to fight those androids all by yourself if you could."

"Normally I would in a heartbeat. But teaching Uub over these last few years took up a lot of my own personal time to train hard. It also didn't help havin' Chichi keeping me workin' on the farm. I know I haven't gotten all that stronger but I know I haven't gotten weaker either."

"The burden of peacetime: a warrior's worst experience," Piccolo said with a grin and Goku chuckled a bit.

"Couldn't have said it better myself. But all these new guys showing up's got me all excited to train hard again and I want to have a proper fight with Kelerot the next time I see him!" Goku said, punching his hand with his fist and Piccolo stared up at the sky.

"Even though you two will be enemies according to him," he said, glancing back down. Goku grinned back at him with a determined look and Piccolo shook his head.

"You don't care either way, just another test of your strength as always, huh?" Piccolo said and Goku chuckled a bit behind his toothy grin and flew back down. Piccolo remained up in the air and traced Bulma's energy to fly over to her location.

When everyone was finished, Pan and Bulla were the first to meet Goku at the entrance.

"Grandpa? Where'd Uncle Piccolo fly off to?" Pan asked.

"He had to take care of something important," Goku said and Pan frowned a bit.

"He could've said goodbye though," Pan muttered and Bulla nudged her.

"C'mon, let's go see Arugula," Bulla said and Pan nodded, her grin returning.

"Pan, where are you going?" Videl called out from behind her.

"We're going to see Arugula, mama," Pan informed her and Videl paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Very well. But be back before the final match starts, okay?" Videl said.

"I will, mom," Pan replied.

"And don't go running off, either!" Videl cried out and Pan sighed.  
"I wasn't going to, mom!" Pan called back and glanced over to Bulla, who nodded and the two girls ran off.

"Make sure you keep an eye on her energy. Let me know the moment she leaves the island," she ordered Gohan and he blinked.

"Why would Pan want to leave the island? She'll cooperate with whatever you're asking her, don't worry," he told her and Videl frowned.

"I only want to be sure our daughter and her friend don't come up with some crazy idea and ditch me. I can't fly as fast as she can, remember?"

"Um, well, if you want, I can teleport over to her and ask her to come back to the island if you're that worried, Miss Videl," Uub informed her when he approached the two and Videl grinned, bowing down at Uub.

"Please do. Pan's future husband should have her safety in mind and ensure she doesn't do anything dangerous that could put her life in danger," Videl told him and Uub went red in the face.

"Um, I should go to the waiting area and warm-up before my match starts," he said and quickly ran out of the restaurant and Videl sighed.

"They're so young and reckless, but they'll grow out of it," she said and Gohan swallowed, glancing over at Goku who looked away, minding his own business.

Broly approached Goku as Bok and Choi both left.

"Hey, excited to see your kid take on my student?" Goku asked and Broly had a grim expression on his face.

"I was not expecting this stay on your planet to be this stressful," Broly told him and Goku stared up at him with a grin on his face.

"I'm actually rather excited to see how well Uub does with a clear head and I think your son will be fine this time without losing his cool. He's the best opponent Uub could possibly run into because of how wild he is."

"I do not want him to endanger anyone again," Broly said and clenched his fists. He felt a bit of his anger rise up again and Goku raised his hands.

"It's going to be alright, Broly, trust me."

"I have no outlet to channel my anger towards and it's becoming harder to control due to the nature of this stressful situation. I feel I have failed as a father in raising my children and I don't know how to handle this."

"What kind of talk is that? You're a great father," Goku said. "I hope your daughter's feeling better."

Broly paused for a moment, then pictured Cheelai and Arugula in his head. It helped ease his stress a bit and he smiled. "Yes, I should go see her. Cheelai and Arugula have helped me control my anger a great deal when I'm not busy with my meditation exercises. I will see you later, Kakarrot."

Broly exited, following his boys behind and Goku decided to take a stroll around the tournament grounds to get in some fresh air and admire what sights were still to behold.

 **Complete submission…**

There was a secluded island far to the north of Tien's martial arts school, an area where the weather was bitterly cold and harsh yet harvested an ideal training ground that he and Chaozu used often during their regimen. The area hosted a cavern that led to a set of hot springs that Tien believed were enchanted with special magical abilities to cleanse one's spirit of evil energy and impure thoughts.

They couldn't sense Glacial flying behind them. She kept a steady distance away so they couldn't spot her with the naked eye and she grinned as she saw the pair land down on the snow-covered landscape.

Chaozu hugged himself and shivered a bit. "I never liked this place; it feels way colder than last time."

"It'll do fine. Come on, we mustn't waste any time," Tien said and he walked over to the entrance, Chaozu floating behind him.

The cavern sloped down towards the area ahead, dimly lit by a strange greenish glow off in the distance. It provided enough illumination for the two to see into the cavern and Tien suddenly stopped for a moment, glancing behind him.

"Huh?" Chaozu muttered.

"N-nothing, I thought I saw a shadow," Tien said and continued walking. Glacial was at the entrance and almost let her cover be blown by the angle of the sunlight and she sidled beside the entrance. She glanced back in and saw the two leave her sight as they walked further in and she quickly followed them.

When the slope evened out, the two could see the glowing pools up ahead, bubbling away. Tien stopped and placed his fist against his palm, bowing deeply at the area. Chaozu channeled energy to light up a set of torches that were lined up against the wall, which lit up the whole area. There were several pools of this strange liquid that spiraled inwards towards a larger one in the middle and Tien powered up a bit to give him some resistance to the heat of the liquid as he stepped into it. He took a deep breath and held it as he submerged himself completely. He steadied himself as he held his breath and stayed submerged as Chaozu waited.

From what Tien had studied of this place, he needed to submerge himself in the first pool for thirty seconds, increasing by fifteen seconds for each pool until he reaches the center where he would meditate for an extended period to channel the cleansing energy to purify his spirit.

Chaozu grew more nervous as he progressed with each pool, wondering if his lungs could hold out for that long. He heard a rock fall, echoing throughout the cavern and he spun around.

"I-is someone th-there?" he asked, floating around to get a view of the area. Hearing nothing, he turned around and a hand covered his mouth, preventing him from screaming.

"Shh," Glacial said with a grin on her face and Chaozu felt something poke him in the face like a fine needle. He grabbed her wrist with his hands and tried to struggle out of her grip but his eyes widened a bit when he felt something stir around his body, fluctuating his energy and he shook nervously. He glanced down at the pool that Tien was still submerged in and focused with his mind.

 _Tien, help!_

Tien, who still needed another minute, felt Chaozu's aura wavering a bit and he abandoned his meditation inside the pool to climb out and he exhaled, breathing heavily. He glanced up in horror to see Glacial hold Chaozu by his face and she glanced down at him with a smile on her face.

"You bastard!" he screamed and flew out of the pool to attack her but something rocked his aura and he collapsed on the ground, holding his head.

"It's useless to fight it. The more you resist the worse it's going to be for the both of you," she said and let Chaozu go.

"Ch-Chaozu," Tien muttered, reaching out towards him. Chaozu fell to the ground, looking up with a shocked look on his face and Tien's eyes widened when he saw red lines fading in on his friend's eyes and he felt like he was about to black out from the level of pressure he was feeling.

Tien lay there motionless for a few seconds, and then his eyes opened up again, only this time the red lines were permanently fixed on them. He casually stood up and grinned at Glacial, who helped Chaozu up to his feet. The two both grinned at her, who enjoyed the sight she was witnessing.

"Such incredible ingenuity, this Tsufurian technology of ours," she said and chuckled a bit.

"We are at your command, Lady Glacial," Tien said and bowed at her with his fist to his palm.

"Whew, I wasn't sure it was going to work if you were using those things," Glacial said, pointing to the glowing pools. "Guess this was a complete success after all. Now what to do with you two."

She glanced back towards the entrance to the cave and waved at the two to join her as she left. The three took to the air and she turned to face them.

"You had quite a powerful attack there. Tien was it?" she asked and Tien nodded.

"The Kikoho. It's a last-ditch attack I use to finish off my opponent but it comes at a great risk to my own lifeforce if I use it too much," Tien informed her and she gently wrapped her arms around herself, hand to her chin.

"What of the pipsqueak here?" she asked, pointing at Chaozu.

"Telekinesis and telepathy. He's a very gifted psychic, my lady," Tien said and Glacial smiled.

"Interesting. You're friends with the one who's been a problem for my uncle, the one called Goku," Glacial said and the two nodded.

"He's over there," Chaozu said, pointing southeast of their location. Glacial cocked an eyebrow and smirked.

"Curious. You are able to detect energy without a device. Tell me then, are you able to locate all of Goku's associates?"

"We can, Lady Glacial," Tien told her. "There is one close to our present location, he is headed to the one called Bulma."

"Bulma," Glacial pondered. "The woman with the device that can locate Dragonballs. Is this person strong? Does he pose a threat?"

"His name is Piccolo and he is formidable. We will help you take him down," Tien told her and Glacial held her hand up.

"I'm delighted in your enthusiasm, but I won't need the both of you for this. The pipsqueak will go and find those other humans who were with you earlier. The energy I've infected you with can be spread to the others very easily with a simple touch. So long as this proceeds uninterrupted, we can expect the entire planet's population to submit."

Tien and Chaozu both smiled at that notion and Glacial pointed towards Piccolo's direction.

"Tien, make sure Piccolo does not get to the woman, I want her isolated so she can obtain the Dragonballs for us."

"Understood," Tien said and both he and Chaozu powered up to fly off in separate directions while Glacial giggled under her breath, making her way to rejoin Tundra.

 **The final match begins…**

Uub and Choi were stretching in the waiting area. Choi used the wall to stretch out his legs and Uub was doing his exercises the same way Goku has. He couldn't help but stare at the boy with a determined look and Choi sighed.

"Quit staring, faux-hawk, it's a bad habit," he said, glancing back. Uub stood up after he finished warming up his legs but didn't say anything. Choi lowered his leg and stared back.

"What?"

"Why do you treat others so poorly?" Uub asked and that threw Choi off for a moment.

"Tch, why should you care? It's none of your business how I treat people," Choi stated, looking away.

"This is your first time away from your home, right?" Uub asked and Choi glanced back.

"Yeah, and?"

"You've only ever had your family to be around. I had a whole village look after my brother and I, even after I lost my mother and father to illness. If you had more people live around you, maybe you wouldn't be so mean-spirited to others."

"Shut up! I only ever need my family! Stuff your sympathy crap and get ready for a beatdown!" Choi yelled and stormed off towards the waiting pavilion, standing behind the sign with a cross look on his face and Uub sighed a bit, staring down at the ground. He clenched his fist and glared at Choi for a moment but relaxed it shortly afterwards. _It's a shame no one ever taught you the value of kindness. If you had a teacher like Master Goku, I know you would've turned out better._

Elsewhere, Cheelai's voice could be heard from the whole hotel building.

"HE DID WHAT~!"

Arugula was still sleeping on her parents bed as Cheelai was shaking Lemo vigorously by his collar.

"All the hell and pain that boy puts me through! All the times we try and tell him what to do and he ignores us! Why does he do this to me?! Why Lemo, WHY?!"

"Chee-lai-please-stop-sha-king-me!" Lemo cried out and Cheelai let him go. He felt the room spinning and had to sit down, holding his head. Cheelai walked over to the window and opened it wildly.

"I HOPE YOU CAN HEAR ME FROM HERE, CHOI! I HOPE IT'S WORTH BREAKING YOUR DAMN NOSE AGAIN!" she screamed and slammed the window shut and clenched her fists, shaking.

"Mama?" Arugula's faint voice called out to her as she let out a yawn. Cheelai spun around to face her and Arugula winced at the angry face her mother was wearing and Cheelai blinked, surprised she was feeling this level of intensity and she relaxed her face.

"Oh little one, I'm so sorry. Mama's not mad at you. Your big brother's decided to go and fight again even though I explicitly told him not to. He promised me he'd forfeit and he goes and breaks that promise. Why do I bother?"

She sat down beside Arugula on the bed and Lemo cleared his throat.

"Well, if it helps clarify anything, it wasn't entirely Choi's decision to fight again," Lemo said and Cheelai glared at him.

"I-I mean that other kid, Uub. He wanted to go ahead with the final match and Choi couldn't refuse. Probably that Saiyan blood of his. You know by now they can't overlook a good fight when it hits them in the face, right?" Lemo protested and Cheelai pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Ugh, fine. If Choi wins I'm using the prize money to buy the strongest possible cage and lock that idiot in for a year until he gets his act together and behaves for once," Cheelai said and Lemo gulped. _Geez this woman's scary when she's in full on angry mama mode._

"If we hurry now, we can make it before the final match starts," Lemo said and Cheelai nodded.

"Ok. C'mon Arugula, let's go," she said but Arugula clutched Mr. Bronto tightly, glaring ahead.

"I'm not going," she said, not looking at anyone.

"I know how you feel, but Pan and Bulla will be there too," Cheelai told her and Arugula shook her head.

"I know Pan-Pan and sissy will be there, but I don't want to see him. I hate him," Arugula said and Cheelai sighed.

"Little one, I know your big brother has been a difficult person to deal with. But despite how he is, he has never hurt one hair on your little body. That's gotta mean something, at least. He loves us, even though he'll never say it out loud. Can you put on a brave face for mama and be there for him? What does Mr. Bronto think?"

She put her hand on the stuffed dino's small head and smiled warmly, appreciative of the fact that this one gift from Pan has helped Arugula a lot since they arrived here on Earth. Arugula stared at Mr. Bronto for a moment and her face went blank.

"Arugula?"

"Looks like another one of those visions," Lemo stated and Cheelai gave him a look but put her hand on Arugula's head.

"Little one? Please talk to me," Cheelai said and Arugula blinked, staring up at her.

"Huh?"

"You okay, little one?" Lemo asked and Arugula nodded.

"Mr. Bronto said Choi looked a bit weird. Well, his hair looked a bit weird and that Uub looked red as a tomato. What does that mean, mama?"

Cheelai giggled a bit. "I wish I knew, sweetie. Pan and Bulla would love to see you again, I'm sure of it."

"Yay! And I bet they want to have a food fight with Uub afterwards, that's why he looks red as a tomato!" Arugula cried out and Lemo's eyes widened a bit.

"Hey, don't go thinking of wasting food on me here, you two," Lemo cried out as the three left the room.

At the waiting area, Uub glanced at Choi and made an observation he hadn't noticed earlier.

"Hey Choi, where's that thing that was tied around your waist the other day?" Uub asked and Choi glanced back. He looked down at his shorts and taped ankles and shrugged. It disturbed Uub to see how nonchalant Choi's reaction to discarding the green pelt around his waist so casually and not even acknowledge it. Bok still wore his on his shoulders and coveted it greatly as though it was a second layer of skin.

"Beats me," Choi told him, ignoring the look Uub was giving him. "I'm not going to bother with weights for this one since I noticed you're in a different outfit than yesterday. It shouldn't surprise me that you trained with weights like I did. Heh, I swear you've probably lived a past life as a Saiyan," Choi said and Uub grinned, walking to stand beside him.

"Entity of pure destruction actually," Uub spat out casually and Choi's eyes widened, taken aback from that.

 _Seriously? What a weirdo._

Those who had stayed on the island after yesterday shuffled in and occupied their seats, noticing that the stadium was still a bit beaten down, but the fighting stage looked almost brand new, the grounds crew testing the foundation to see if it was sturdy enough to fight on and they gave Mr. Announcer the go-ahead signal. He went over final preparations with his senior monk staff as more spectators shuffled in to occupy the seats and he smiled, breathing a sigh.

"Oh good, we're still getting spectators for the final match," he said and nodded to the crew as they hopped down from the stage.

Pan had her hands held by both Gohan and Videl and she blushed out of embarrassment. She glanced up at Gohan.

"Dad, why am I being forced in between you and mom like this?" she said.

"So you don't run off on me," Videl stated, looking for an ideal seat.

"Can't I sit beside Bulla, though? What if Arugula manages to come by?" Pan asked but got a look from Videl.

"I'm not taking any chances with you two. Here, let's sit down."

Pan sighed out of frustration as she plopped down between her parents and looked around to see others coming into view. She looked out for Goku and saw him come in with Bulla and he waved at her and Gohan while Videl had her arms crossed, eyes closed. Pan gave him a look that screamed "help me" to Goku but he couldn't figure it out and Gohan waved at him to come sit in their row. Bulla sat down beside Videl but looked a bit nervous as she stared at her and decided to sit beside Gohan instead.

"Psst, Pan. Your mom's acting a little too unhinged, isn't she?" Bulla told her and Pan sighed.

"Besides, Arugula and her mom are still in their hotel room," she added, noting that when they stopped by earlier, it was only for a brief moment since Cheelai told them that Arugula had a scary nightmare and wasn't sure they were going to leave the hotel room. The girls nodded grimly and hoped that Arugula would feel well enough to come out and left shortly afterwards. They didn't tell her about the final match with Uub and Choi, unsure how Cheelai would take it and they kept that information to themselves.

"Yeah. I hope nothing bad happened," Pan said and Videl cleared her throat, glaring at the two. Pan quickly sat upright and politely waved at Bulla, who frowned up at Videl. While waiting for things to get started, she looked at her wristwatch and brought up her Dragon radar app and it showed four blinking lights together moving towards a fifth and she zoomed in on the lone Dragonball's location.

"Hey, that island, is that what I think it is?" Bulla asked and Gohan glanced down. His eyes widened as a huge smile came across his lips.

"Woah, you built a dragon radar? It looks more sophisticated than your mom's," he said enthusiastically and Bulla nodded.

"I boosted the signal to track them a lot more easily. Is this the island your brother's working at as a Ranger?" she asked and Gohan paused to look at the diagram a bit more and he nodded.

"Yeah, that's Android 17's island, alright," he said.

"Do they know there's a Dragonball hiding there?" Bulla asked.

"Probably not."

"Oh, I know. I think I remember Trunks saying he was going to stay a bit there with Goten," Bulla said and brought up her communicator and dialed Trunk's number. His face appeared on a holographic screen and Bulla waved.

"Hey sis, what's up?"

"Waiting on the final match of the Tournament. How's the island? Are you relaxing at least?" she asked.

"I only just got here a day ago so I haven't had time yet to settle down," he said and Bulla smirked.

"Guess what? There's a Dragonball on that island you're at. Why don't you and Goten go and look for it?" Bulla asked and Trunks's eyes widened.

"For real?!" Trunks cried out and Goten's face popped in at the same time.

"There's a Dragonball on our island?! Awesome! Come on, let's go find it!" he yelled and waved at Gohan.

"Hey big bro!"

"Hey Goten, how's work?" Gohan asked.

"Keeping the peace as always. Marron, 18, and Mai went off to do some dress shopping for our wedding so it's just the two of us looking after things until they come back. Think 17 will want to tag along to find it?" Goten said, turning to Trunks.

"Probably not, I can't think of any reason he'd want to. So it's on this island, right?" Trunks asked Bulla.

"That's what the radar said. Happy hunting!" she cried and they waved at each other before the screen shut off. Gohan chuckled a bit and glanced up at Goku, who was facing up at the sky with his eyes closed, frowning.

"Dad? Something wrong?"

Goku opened his eyes and shook his head. He grinned down at him.

"It's nothing. Alright, let's see a good fight happening!" Goku said as he plopped down behind Gohan and Pan.

Broly and Bok had a huge pile of snacks in their hands as they emerged and Goku waved at them to sit beside him and they made themselves comfortable.

A few minutes later, Cheelai and Lemo ran up the stairs, Cheelai holding Arugula in her arms as she was gripping Mr. Bronto tightly against her chest. She stopped and had to put Arugula down before she bent forward to catch her breath since she breathed heavily from all that running. Lemo was equally out of breath and almost collapsed from shock when he saw Broly and Bok hold all those snacks in their hands.

"Aw come on, you guys! I cooked all morning and put the food into capsules for a reason!" he cried and lounged himself on a seat beside Bok while Cheelai sat down beside Broly. Arugula climbed up on his back and put her hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?" she said. Broly smiled.

"I don't know, who is it? I can't see anything," he said and Arugula giggled.

"It's me, silly! Mr. Bronto says hi!" she exclaimed, holding the dino in front of his face. Broly reached around to grab Arugula with his large hands and he placed her squarely on his lap and she stood up with her feet on his legs for support. She saw Pan and Bulla and waved at them.

"Pan-Pan! Sissy! We made it!" she cried out and the girls turned around to wave at her from below.

"Thanks for coming," Pan said.

"Mr. Bronto said that Uub looked like a big red tomato, but I don't know what that meant," Arugula stated and Pan's eyes widened a bit.

"A tomato?"

"Yeah, and Choi had different color in his hair. Mr. Bronto wasn't sure, only he saw Choi with weird hair."

Goku and Gohan exchanged looks and Goku put his hand to his chin. Gohan leaned over to whisper to him.

"Is he referring to what I'm thinking?" Gohan asked and Goku pondered it a bit more.

"Why would Uub want a tomato bath?" Goku asked and the others almost collapsed.

"Uh, nevermind," Gohan said and sighed. He put a hand on Pan's head and the two smiled at each other.

"Thank you all for coming!" the announcer shouted into his microphone and all eyes were now on him.

"This is an exciting day for everyone that was able to make it! Today is the final match of the 30th World Martial Arts Tournament!" he said and the remaining spectators all cheered and clapped. Buu's fanclub was still dedicated as always and chose to stay, all with new signs showing their support for Uub (mostly they just flipped it over so the letters would say Oob instead).

Uub stood ready to head out while Choi had his arms crossed, staring ahead with a determined expression.

"The contestants have had a chance to rest and heal up, and they're more than ready to engage in an amazing test of skill and strength! Let's bring them out now!" he shouted and pointed towards the pavilion where Choi was the first to walk out. He ignored the crowd as he walked forward, while they started cheering loudly for Uub who emerged a couple seconds afterwards, a bashful smile on his face.

Pan's face was beaming as she watched Uub walk onto the stage and she couldn't stop staring at him, her face blushing heavily. Bulla took notice and smirked.

"If you keep fawning over Uub like that you won't be able to pay attention to the fight," she quipped and Pan blinked, giving her a look shortly after.

"He looks strong, okay? His shoulders are a lot broader, his arms look defined, he's got a confident look on his face and his eyes are really really pretty," Pan said as she drifted off, ogling Uub's physique and Bulla chuckled a bit, then noticed Bok was glancing at her a couple of times and they caught each other staring, looking away quickly.

"Ahem, well, I think Uub's got this. I can't wait to see that belt around his waist," Bulla said and Goku smiled confidently down at Uub.

"It ain't about winning or losing this Tournament, but ascending to a new plateau," he said and Bulla glanced up at him.

"Tell that to Choi," she muttered and stared down at Choi, who was focused solely on Uub. Bok could easily see when his brother was now in his zone, much like the match against Pan and he was wolfing down several snacks with Broly. Goku kept glancing back and his mouth began to drool.

"Aw man, I should've gotten something before the match started," he whined and Lemo grinned, taking out one of his capsules and activating it, popping out a container which he opened.

"Don't worry, I gotcha covered," he said and opened it, handing a few items over to Goku.

"Thank you!" Goku said and gave his thanks before chowing down.

After the announcer gave his usual speech, he stepped down off the stage and the monks began pounding on the drums. Uub went into his fighting stance, mirroring that of Goku's with his index and middle finger slightly less curled than the rest of his fingers on his left hand as he waited for Choi to assume his stance. Choi took an unusual stance when he squatted down and placed on hand on the stage, the other stretched out and Bok's eyes widened a bit.

"So you've decided to use that method, then?" Bok stated.

"Meffod?" Goku said, mouth full of food.

"When he went into that stance, he threw me off quite a lot with his wild and random fighting style. We decided to call it the 'wild child' style," Bok said and Goku swallowed his food.

"Really? That's awesome!" he cried and Bok cocked an eyebrow.

"You really think so?"

"Of course! The more unorthodox the fighting style, the better it'll be for Uub to fight against," he stated and Bok gulped.

"I hope you're right about that. Choi was holding back quite a bit against Pan, but I know he's not going to with this one," Bok informed him and Goku had a huge smile on his face as he stared at the two on the stage.

When the drumming stopped and the gong rang, the announcer yelled into his microphone: "BEGIN!"

Choi vanished in front of Uub but Uub was prepared for Choi's first attack yet was almost thrown off balance from the way Choi was coming in for his attack. He was on his hands, bringing a foot down for a hard kick which Uub blocked with his forearm, and Choi spun around on his hands to attack with a few more kicks that were blocked by Uub. Choi danced around on all fours, attacking from all directions at Uub, forcing him to divert himself away from the edge of the stage and block as much as he could.

 _His way of moving is all over the place yet he's getting in precise attacks._ Uub thought to himself as he went to gain some distance, but Choi was coming in fast, flying low to the ground. He swung a huge uppercut that Uub narrowly dodged and Choi followed it up quickly with an elbow to Uub's gut with the same arm and Uub gasped a bit from the shock. He immediately regained his momentum and blocked more punches and elbows from Choi as he tried to throw in a few counters that Choi easily dodged and weaved to avoid them. He threw himself down on his back and thrust his feet upward towards Uub, who dodged and flipped backwards to get out of the way, but Choi was right there, vanishing and reappearing in a high speed burst to bring his ankle down on Uub's face, who blocked it with his hands. He grabbed Choi's ankle as it came down and he twisted his body around to throw Choi down onto the stage but the boy was ready and put his hand down to stop him from falling and he kicked Uub in the face on the way down. Uub staggered back a couple of steps and Choi followed with a flurry of kicks that were connecting amazingly fast. Uub blocked most of them but his body was being pelted with Choi's multitude of blows from his taped feet and he was grunting from the impact.

Uub knew he couldn't allow himself to be pushed back like this and went on the offensive and the two boys were trading blows on the stage. Choi's unorthodox movements were slowly being met by Uub's own unorthodox movements and the two were trading punches and kicks that rocked the stage and they were able to dodge and block each other's hits effectively to the delight of the spectators watching and their families amazed by their display.

Goku's eyes were lit up with excitement as he watched the fight intensely, grinning ear to ear. Pan and Bulla were on their feet, cheering Uub on.

"Yeah! Come on Uub!" the girls cried, pumping their fists in the air. Videl cleared her throat and forced Pan to sit back down and she sighed, complying with her mother. Gohan adjusted his glasses and had his arms crossed, observing the fight yet the way he was gripping his clothes with his hands, he too was feeling excited from watching the fight proceed.

Bok and Broly were mesmerized by how well the two were going at it on the stage and Bok's mouth hung open a bit.

"Now I regret not wanting to push Choi any further, this is amazing!" he cried and Broly couldn't help but smile at his son.

"My father would've been very proud to see his grandson fight with such passion," he said and Bok glanced up at him. Cheelai gave him a small look, frowning. She might've been inclined to agree if she didn't remember the treatment Broly went through at the hands of his father when they first met.

"What's wrong, faux-hawk? Having trouble keeping up?" Choi said through their flurry of blows and Uub gritted his teeth but grinned regardless.

"I thought this was a warm-up," Uub said and Choi frowned a bit. The two landed a punch that connected against one another and sparks of electricity flew from the aura it radiated and their other fists connected as well. Their fingers soon clasped together and the two were now engaged in a test of strength.

The whole area began to shake as Choi's and Uub's powers clashed against each other. Their energy began to swell higher as they worked towards overwhelming the other. Uub had a slight advantage in his strength as he began to push Choi back. He knew this boy had the advantage in his speed but most of his punches and kicks weren't as strong as those of his brother's, an aspect of the twins he discovered soon after he began fighting Choi. This one emphasized a lot of his training on gaining the speed advantage, while Bok's was pure strength and power. It wouldn't surprise him at how well they worked as a team if the need arose and he wondered for a moment what fighting the both of them would be like. He thought of asking Pan to team-up against the two and blushed a bit, picturing the two of them fighting together side-by-side.

"Big mistake letting your thoughts distract you," Choi said and Uub was caught off-guard with that statement. Choi kneed him in the gut and Uub staggered back a few steps. Choi followed up with a flurry of punches which Uub was forced to block and he powered up to move around faster so he could dodge and gain some distance, firing several energy blasts that Choi flickered to dodge.

"What happened? Uub had the advantage," Pan said, then realized something when she saw him blushing. _Crap, am I distracting him?_

"It's far from over," Goku stated. _Just as long as you keep your head clear, Uub, you'll do fine._

Uub took to the air and Choi quickly joined him, bringing his hands to cross over each other and send an energy blade arcing towards Uub as he was flying back and Uub quickly flipped backwards to avoid it. Choi powered up, building energy in his hands and sent wave after wave of those energy arcs towards Uub, who swerved his body to avoid getting hit by those and one of them was half an inch from striking him in the face and he was stunned at how close that was. He flew down towards Choi for an offensive attack and went in for a hard punch but Choi dodged it nimbly and grabbed Uub's forearm as he avoided the blow. He twisted his body to throw Uub down to the stage but Uub spun around to thread his legs around Choi's torso and push him forward, using the secondary momentum to unwrap his legs around him and give him a hard shove by building energy in his feet for a blast that propelled him skyward while forcing Choi to come crashing down into the stage. Choi couldn't free himself from the energy beam in time and plowed through the stage, the energy exploding. When the dust cleared, Choi was still lying face first in a small crater that had been formed by Uub's attack and the crowd cheered.

"Contestant Choi is down! ONE! TWO! THREE!" The announcer shouted as he began the count. Uub quickly flew back down and landed near the crater, waiting to see if Choi was going to make a move or not.

"Attaboy Uub! Nice hustle!" Goku shouted.

Pan and Bulla high-fived each other and Arugula cheered, shaking Mr. Bronto in her hands. Cheelai winced when she saw Choi hit the stage while Broly and Bok had grim expressions on their face.

"C'mon brother, don't let this get to you, keep your cool," Bok said, pleading with Choi and hoping he got through to him. Broly was silently observing the announcer make his count, which was now at five and he raised an eyebrow at what was happening next.

Choi snapped his arm up and fired thin energy beams, almost like fine needles at Uub, who reacted with shock at how fast Choi had moved after hitting the stage. The energy needles were on a one-way course to Uub's face when he brought up his arm to defend himself and the energy needles pierced his forearm.

He winced from the impact and jumped back to gain some distance, glancing down at his forearm. It felt like he was stung by a bee when he looked at the energy needles and they faded away shortly afterwards. He stared at Choi in confusion.

"What kind of attack was that? That didn't even hurt," Uub said and Choi smirked, standing up.

"Maybe not with five needles, but how about several thousand all at once?" Choi said and extended his hands forward. Thousands of small lights shot forth from around him as an insane array of energy needles shot forth from around Choi towards Uub and Uub's eyes widened.

"What the hell?!" he cried and shielded his face from the attack with his arms. He grunted and cried out as he felt thousands of these energy needles sting him simultaneously and Choi casually began walking towards him.

"You're a worthy opponent to have the honor of testing this attack of mine, Uub. I've only ever shown this to my brother one time so be thankful I extended the courtesy to you," Choi said and Uub was still crying out from the increasing pain of all these needles poking him.

"Dammit, how am I able to get close? I can't get a read on his energy if all these things are around me," Uub grunted, then let out a scream as he powered up even more, making the needles disappear and Choi stopped walking towards him as he saw a bright white aura surround Uub.

"Brute forcing your way out of it, huh? I know those needles have done some damage to you though, so it's only fitting that I out-pace you to wear you down even more," Choi said and clenched his fists, powering up himself. A white aura flashed around his body as well and he vanished, as though he left an after-image behind when he moved right towards Uub.

Uub's focus had returned just in time for him to block Choi's attack and the boy dropped down for a leg-sweep that tripped Uub up. Choi flipped forward to drop an energy charged heel down on Uub and Uub quickly dodged out of the way before Choi could connect.

Choi blocked a series of punches and kicks from Uub, who was going on the offensive this time and the boy moved his body to swerve and avoid Uub's punches, catching one of his arms and hitting him back with a palm thrust to his chest. He flew back and fired several energy blasts at Uub, who countered with energy blasts of his own that connected and exploded, creating a cloud of smoke and light that made it hard for the spectators to see what was going on.

Choi jumped high in the air and Uub kept track of his movements, spotting him dart out from the smoke and he charged up energy in his hands, firing them both up at Choi in a large beam of energy. Choi grinned and built up energy in his feet and both Bok and Broly took notice.

"This looks like it could be over for Uub," Bok stated and that caught Goku by surprise, who turned around to face him.

"This is one of my brother's signature techniques he had been working on the most," Bok told him and Goku's eyes widened when he turned to see what Choi was doing.

Choi moved his feet over the energy beam as it passed underneath him and the energy in his feet served as a sort of platform for Choi to "surf" along the energy beam, sliding down on top of it towards Uub, who was shocked to see what Choi was doing as he was barreling down towards him. Everyone stared in shock and awe at what Choi was doing and Pan was gawking the most.

"That damn brat! How the hell did he come up with that?!" Pan cried out and Videl gave her a look.

"That's not very lady-like, Pan," she told her and Pan sighed, pouting and crossing her arms.

Uub didn't have enough time to let the energy go and wasn't ready for what Choi was about to do next. Choi pushed himself off the energy beam as he was inches away from Uub, flipped over him, and kicked him hard in the back of the head, causing Uub to fly forward. Choi landed gracefully on the stage, watching Uub in anticipation that he would land out of bounds and lose the match.

Uub blacked out momentarily from the impact to the back of his head for a few seconds, which wasn't much time as he was on a one-way course to the out of bounds region. He blinked, regaining his thoughts, and panicked when he saw the grassy area outside of the stage and he put two fingers to his head to teleport himself back onto the stage in front of Choi. He looked a bit rattled as he stared at him, who decided to not stand around and gunned right for him with blazing fast speed, running across the stage. Uub, in a desperate move, cupped his hands, and fired a Kamehameha blast to the ground to propel himself upwards, making sure not to use too much power to severely damage the area below him and he was able to gain some distance from the ground.

Choi watched Uub launch himself up to the air and jumped up to fly straight at him, readying a punch to connect with his face. Uub glanced down and just barely raised a forearm to block Choi's punch.

"Pretty gutsy play you just made there, Uub. I underestimated you," Choi said as Uub grunted, gritting his teeth as Choi's fist pushed against his forearm.

"You shouldn't take me lightly, Choi, because I've still got a lot in me left," Uub replied, making the boy grin.

By now you realize that no matter what tricks you have up your sleeve, whether it's energy attacks or close-quarter combat, I'll always have something to match that. It comes with years of training with my brother," Choi said and Uub chuckled a bit.

"Big mistake, thinking like that. You can't learn much if all you do is fight the same opponent over and over again," Uub said and Choi glared at him.

"Think I don't know that?!" Choi yelled as he flew into a barrage of punches, throwing hundreds in rapid succession at Uub, who put up his defenses to block them all. Uub quickly powered up again to fly away and head back to the stage, forcing Choi to pursue him and Uub landed in front of the boy as his speed matched his. Uub immediately flipped over behind Choi as he landed behind him and pelted his back with several energy blasts that knocked Choi, sending him staggering forward.

Choi growled as he struggled to turn around and he felt his anger begin to swell up again within him. But this time he felt more consciously aware of his temper rising and felt a swell of energy he hadn't felt before.

"Damned if I'm letting this idiot get the best of me!" he yelled and growled, clenching his fists. Goku was the first to notice the massive increase in Choi's energy and his eyes widened a bit.

"Is he doing what I think he's doing?" Goku said and the others glanced at him. Gohan began to notice this as well and everyone turned their attention back to Choi, who was continuously being struck from behind by Uub's energy balls, shoving him closer to the edge of the stage.

Choi's mohawk began changing color as his white hair faded in and out from white to gold, spiking up even more than it usually did. He cried out in anger as his eyes stared down at the stage, the color changing in them. The lavender color faded to an eerie aqua-green as he completed his transformation into a Super Saiyan. Uub's jaw dropped as his eyes widened in surprise for a moment, putting a halt to his energy attacks as a golden aura pulsated around Choi's body.

"Contestant Choi is shining brightly with a golden colored aura! I haven't seen something like this in years!" the announcer cried out and Cheelai looked ready to freak out.

"Wh-wh-what-what the hell?! When was he able to do this?" she cried out, then her eyes widened when she glanced down at Arugula. _Oh my God, it really was as she saw. Does that mean that what she saw in her dream is going to happen as well?!_

Arugula eventually was able to calm down enough to tell her what she had seen in her dream; how she saw the eyes in the darkness looking at her to the image of Broly with a hole in his chest and it unnerved her considerably. She was still very much in disbelief at all these instances of Arugula having visions of the future that when she saw Choi transform into a Super Saiyan, it confirmed what her little girl had said earlier. She mentioned how Choi's hair looked weird and putting two and two together meant the only logical conclusion was that her son was able to become a Super Saiyan like his father.

"Dad?" Bok asked. Broly frowned, watching Choi stand before them as a Super Saiyan now.

"Dad!" Bok sounded desperate to get his father's attention but Broly clenched his fists more tightly this time. Arugula felt uncomfortable as she saw Broly's face and she quickly went to sit with Cheelai.

"Broly, it's going to be fine. Your son's now a Super Saiyan like you. Come back down, come back to me, big guy," she said and Broly blinked a moment, almost blacking out from his rage billowing up inside him. He closed his eyes and hung his head, resting his hands on his lap and the eyes of his loved ones were all on him.

"Dad…"

They all surrounded him to comfort him and his mouth finally turned into a grin as he opened them up again, feeling the warmth of his family embrace him. He glanced at Goku.

"Your student's in a great deal of trouble now," he told him but he was surprised to see that it didn't faze him. Goku looked at him with a confident expression on his face.

"Uub's way more resilient than you realize," Goku said with a determined grin. "He may have a more powerful opponent to fight now, but he won't give up."

Goku glanced over at Uub, who began to smile with determination himself.

 _A Super Saiyan like Master Goku, eh?_ Uub thought to himself as he stared down at Choi.

Choi finally relaxed his body and turned his head around to stare up at Uub with his aqua-green eyes that reflected a bit of the sunlight, narrowing his eyes to focus squarely on his opponent up in the air. The two stared at each other for a moment as the air grew quiet, like the calm before a huge storm.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21 – "The unprecedented results of Uub's training burst forth! Who will win the Tournament?"**

 **Aggressive…**

The energy of the battle between Uub and Choi elevated to a new level as the tension heightened. Choi's Super Saiyan aura blazed forth around him, pulsating and expanding outward, his aqua-green eyes staring silently at Uub. Uub returned that gaze with equal determination, eager to test Choi's newfound transformation. Part of the training he had been doing with Goku for all these years allowed Uub to rub off some of Goku's flair for fighting, more akin to his strong desire to fight a stronger opponent. Although Uub wasn't as enthusiastic about this as Goku, he nonetheless was curious how stronger Choi had become now that he unlocked his Saiyan half's legendary transformation.

Bok was still amazed, unaware of how much time had passed since he saw his twin brother transform before his very eyes. His fists were clenched tightly on his lap, shaking almost. He very rarely felt negative emotions, those seemed to have been given solely to Choi when they were still very young. Yet he began to feel these emotions himself, bordering on jealousy.

He stared hard at Choi, thinking back to a time during their youth when they discovered their knack for fighting, a trait inherited from their father. Lemo filled them in on what he learned of Saiyan heritage during his time in the Cold Force (later transitioned to the Freeza Force) and concluded that most Saiyans held a strong desire to fight. He didn't object to the idea of the boys learning how to fight, but not having a suitable teacher would prove awkward for them.

Lemo made a few passing glances at the twins and smirked. He waited for the moment when Choi would make his move on Uub. This was an explosion of energy waiting to ignite and he didn't want to miss out on it. Long ago he would've likely avoided such catastrophic confrontations, especially during the initial first few days of meeting Broly with Cheelai. Seeing that fight take place between three powerful Saiyans unnerved him a great deal, but that paled in comparison to how tense he felt being near the emperor of the universe himself. The simplest of looks Freeza would give when they locked eyes made his blood chill and his mouth dry. However, the more time he had spent with Broly, seeing his friends grow close together and start a family of their own on a planet that wasn't inhabited by giant bugs, worms, and all sorts of nasty beasts, the better it made him feel overall that seeing a few scuffles and sparring sessions from the boys was like a relaxing stroll on the beach.

Bok wished he could feel proud for his brother having grown in power so much. He spent a considerable amount of time training his muscles so he could use them for pure strength, yet Choi's prodigal knack for fighting made him feel as though he was leagues behind him. It reminded him of one training session where they were fighting as usual and using his perfect defense strategy wore him out due to Choi's ferocity and quick movements. Keeping up with him taxed his body that he felt sore all over the next day. Yet when he saw how Choi was still able to move around without being burdened by their fight the day before, he grew resentful. A few comforting words from his mother however made those feelings melt away and he dedicated himself to supporting Choi more than ever. He didn't like that Choi was better at this than he was, but he knew in the end it was more about their bond as brothers than petty jealousy.

He took a moment to breathe in the air and focus his mind on the fight and could feel the considerable gap between what Choi was then and where he was now. It amazed him how much of a difference a Super Saiyan transformation made and he knew that when this fight was over, he would stop at nothing to achieve this as well. This did bring a smile to his face for once.

Choi turned around to face Uub completely, staring up at him. Uub put up a fighting stance in the air, waiting for Choi to make the first move, but he was stunned to see the boy right in front of him.

 _When did he?_ Uub thought quickly and he barely took a full blow to the head from a roundhouse. Had he been a split-second too slow, Choi would've knocked him out cold and sent him crashing into the stands with that kick.

Uub grunted when he felt the impact and the kick was strong enough to push him down. With a burst of energy he propelled himself back onto the fighting stage before he landed on the ground and Choi was immediately on him, flying down to land on the stage. He burst in a full-on sprint, gunning straight at him and Uub frantically blocked a barrage of punches and kicks, Choi flipping around and twirling his body so fast that it was disorienting to keep up. Uub relied on his own power and knew he needed to increase it to keep up, yet he wasn't able to gauge how powerful Choi had become in his Super Saiyan form.

Pan watched the fight, her concern for Uub's safety growing more and more. This was a situation she didn't want to see Uub witness and seeing him front and center in the stage fending off this brat gave her a great deal of anxiety. She clasped her hands to her chest and her breathing was a bit more rapid, her heart pounding fiercely under her rib cage. She felt annoyed that this was making her so tense and Bulla waved at her.

"Bulla, don't tell me to relax, because I really can't right now," Pan said and Bulla giggled.

"I know, I wasn't going to say anything. But maybe use that tension to cheer him on instead?" she reassured her and Pan blinked. She couldn't help but give a chuckle to that and nodded, smiling. She stood up along with Bulla and they both glanced at Arugula, who gave them a cute smile in return.

"Arugula! We're going to cheer the loudest as we possibly can for Uub, okay? You gotta go loud too, you hear me?" Pan told her and Arugula nodded, holding up Mr. Bronto.

"Mr. Bronto! Let's all shout very very loudly at Uub, for Pan-Pan and for sissy!" Arugula said, holding the dino as high up as she can.

"UUB! FIGHT HARD! FIGHT HARD! YOU CAN DO THIS! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!" Pan screamed as loudly as she could and Bulla joined in as well.

"C'MON UUB! DON'T LET THE POWER OF A SUPER SAIYAN HOLD YOU DOWN! WE KNOW YOU'RE STRONGER THAN THAT!" Bulla screamed out and they flashed a thumbs-up to Arugula, who was ready to belt out her cheer.

"UUB! DO YOUR BEST! WIN THIS FOR PAN-PAN!" she yelled and the three girls continued their cheering.

It seemed to have an effect on Uub as his cheeks went red from all the praise. The fanclub joined in and matched the girls cheering with their own, chanting Uub's name as loud as they possibly could. Eventually the rest of the spectators were all on Uub's side and chanted his name. Goku watched all of this unfold and he was amazed that the boy everyone was cheering loudly for was once a creature that killed all of them years ago as Majin Buu. Everyone's reassurance and positive encouragement moved Uub to grab Choi's wrists as he was pelting him with punches, reluctantly taking a few in the process but Choi frowned, blowing Uub's hands away with his power and hitting him in the mid-section with an energy blast that sent him pushing back. Choi rushed forward, running fast and nimbly on the stage to pursue Uub as he cancelled the energy with a blast of his own and he took to the air to avoid getting another flurry of blows from Choi. But the boy was still hot on his heels and gave him pursuit in the air, meeting him midway. The two started exchanging blows as a grin appeared on Choi's face.

"What's wrong, Uub? Having trouble keeping up?" Choi's cocky grin unsettled Uub, yet Uub was still doing his best to keep up.

"You have no idea how awesome this Super Saiyan power is! I feel more power, more speed, more fluid in my motions! This is the best thing I could've come across!" Choi yelled as he increased the offence in his movements, something Uub took notice of.

 _Dammit, he's getting a bit carried away with his newfound power._

Uub felt the struggle now as he was taking more hits than he could block and he flew back down to gain some distance. Choi was still very much like a shadow attached to him at this point, staying on him at all times, and when Uub landed on the stage, he took a hard punch to the face from Choi's left hook and he staggered back a few steps before taking a heel kick from above that knocked him flat on his face. Choi landed in front of him and bounced up and down, dancing on his taped feet, waiting for Uub to stand back up.

"I can do this all day, faux-hawk. C'mon, gimme some more," Choi said, grinning down at him.

"Contestant Uub is down! I'll start the count! ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!" the announcer began and Uub was able to get to his hands and knees. He felt the side of his face and winced at how hard a blow it was. A trickle of blood poured from the corner of his mouth and he wiped it with the back of his hand. He glanced over at Choi who was dancing and bobbing up and down on his feet and frowned.

"This is what your power is at now, is it?" Uub said, rubbing the side of his face. He let his hand drop down and shook it, making it into a fist.

"You got that right. What're you gonna do about it now? You'd probably be more of a challenge for me if you were also a Saiyan but I guess that's the limit of your human physiology."

"Don't underestimate me because I'm just a human," Uub said. "I've been training under the best Saiyan that's ever lived. That man named Goku, right there."

He pointed to Goku and Choi glanced over at him, disgusted. But then he started laughing out loud, which threw Uub off a bit.

"Are you serious? That guy is the best Saiyan that's ever lived? He couldn't even beat my dad! Even if he was actually trying."

"I'll show you why you'll regret those words when I show you the results of my training right here and now," Uub told him and Choi gave him a slightly sinister grin.

"Then quit wasting my time and do it," he said.

 **Another infected victim…**

Whatever had infected Tien seemed to weave its way within his very DNA, completely influencing the way he was thinking. He didn't want this to become noticeable and had some measure of control of this energy that festered inside him. It took over his mind and body now and told him to hide the eyes so they appeared normal. He closed his eyes and when he opened all three of them again, the red lines that were on his eyes were no longer there.

He still gazed ahead with malicious intent, closing in on the one he was sensing. Piccolo was on his way to Bulma's group, who were travelling together to hunt the remaining Dragonball since the last two were kept safe and secure at Capsule Corporation. He knew this energy stuck out like a sore thumb and he suppressed it within himself. Whether these warriors would still detect it or not was left entirely up to chance.

As Piccolo flew, he caught a faint hint of the evil energy he knew Goku had sensed earlier, yet when he pinpointed the source, the energy mysteriously vanished and he chose to ignore it for now. He could still sense Tien coming his way yet he didn't want to slow down, concerning himself more for Bulma than anyone else for the time being.

It felt unusual that Tien was catching up to him rather quickly and he couldn't avoid it any longer, stopping to let him meet him half way and he turned to face him.

"Hey Piccolo," Tien said, waving at him. Piccolo eyed him cautiously since the evil energy he picked up on earlier came from his direction.

"I heard you had some trouble earlier with a pair of androids," Piccolo noted, wondering where this conversation was leading him to.

"I did," was all he replied with, yet the way he was staring at Piccolo made him feel a little more apprehensive about engaging him in idle chit-chat.

"You should rest and heal up, you still look hurt from whatever fight you were involved in," Piccolo told him but Tien grinned.

"I'm fine. Where are you headed?" he asked. The way Tien was speaking seemed a bit odd from what he could remember of his interactions in the past with him.

"That shouldn't be your concern, Tien. Go on home, I'll take care of your assailants," Piccolo said, eager to end this conversation as quickly as possible and make sure Bulma was safe. He never thought that Bulma of all people needed to be kept safe but this was something he vowed to Goku that he'd make sure she wasn't in any danger from whatever these androids were.

"We can fight those androids together if you want." What made Piccolo feel unsure about all this was that Tien's smile never seemed to fade and he gazed at him with even more suspicion.

"What happened? Did those androids do something to you?" Piccolo asked.

"They roughed me up, that's all. Why do you ask?"

He could start feeling it again, the evil energy from earlier. It was nothing like any energy he had felt before, yet the familiarity of it reminded him of Freeza the most and when he started to focus more closely, his eyes widened when he could sense it clearly within Tien.

"What the hell did they do to you?!" Piccolo yelled and Tien's eyes shifted, the grid lines reappearing on his eyes and Piccolo gasped a bit. At that same instance, Tien fired a few energy blasts that Piccolo defended himself against and Tien launched himself right at him.

"Tch, I don't have time for this," Piccolo said and kneed him hard in the gut, which made him recoil in pain and pause while in mid-air, but when he started to chuckle a bit it seemed to frazzle Piccolo even more.

"What?"

Tien resumed his aggressive attacks which Piccolo was able to block and he had to start powering up a bit more to put more pressure and keep Tien from this frantic attack and he caught him with a hard hook to the face and sent him flying down to the earth.

When Tien crashed into the ground, Piccolo glanced at him a moment and sighed. _Stay down, I'll deal with you later._

He was about to turn and resume his course to Bulma's group when his face darkened. He felt a blip of the evil energy surge once more and Tien stood up, aiming his hands up at the Namekian and his eyes widened.

"What the hell?!"

Although Tien was quite a distance below him, he could still make out a crazed look on his face as he held out his hands in a cupped format, a technique Piccolo was very familiar with. He just barely had enough time to raise his arms in defense, as Tien's Kikoho attack was so sudden and powerful.

When the attack subsided, Tien was right back up to engage Piccolo again and Piccolo glared at him aggressively.

 _What kind of power is making him do this and how is he getting back up after taking that much damage?_ Piccolo thought to himself as he was blocking Tien's blows. The aggressive nature of this onslaught was completely different than his usual fighting style and this worried Piccolo greatly. Clearly this evil energy had an effect, heightening Tien's adrenaline to a frightening amount and he was worried what sort of effect this was having on his body. Piccolo realized that if this keeps up, Tien will surely die from his own power or worse, by Piccolo's own hand.

Piccolo continued to counter everything Tien was throwing at him, overwhelming him with his strength, yet this newfound strength in Tien kept pushing back, despite the amount of damage he was taking from his punches and kicks. Piccolo had to put a stop to this immediately and charged up a large energy blast from his hands aimed right at Tien.

"I'm sorry, Tien," he told him and as he was about to fire, Tien put his hands to his face, glaring at him menacingly with that eerie smile of his.

"Crap!" Piccolo cried out, unable to avoid covering his eyes in time.

"Solar Flare!" Tien yelled and an intense bright light enveloped the area around him, directly affecting Piccolo as he clutched his face in pain from the blinding attack that was right in his face. Unable to see anything, he felt a pair of hands grab him by the arms and he grunted, unable to shake himself free from Tien's grip, holding him by the wrists.

He randomly fired off several energy blasts in defense. Some hit Tien point blank but he still held his firm grip, his grid-like eyes widening in madness as he smiled ear to ear and his aura began glowing a sinister dark color. The aura began to leak onto Piccolo, slowly enveloping him and Piccolo cried out in pain, holding his head as he felt this energy begin to consume and corrupt him from the inside.

When the strange dark purple-black energy surrounded the Namekian, Tien let go and waited for it to take effect. Piccolo struggled, still temporarily blinded and he screamed, holding his eyes, his eyes shut tightly to stem the intense glare that was still burned in his retinas. In his last ditch attempt, he reached out telepathically.

 _Gohan! Gohan, listen to me! Don't come near me, whatever you do! Something's taking over me and I won't be able to control it for very long! You need to warn everyone!_

Seconds passed by and he went silent, lowering his hands, then the same eerie grin appeared on his face as he opened his eyes, red grid lines fading in on his eyes like Tien's. He and Tien both nodded together and turned around to fly onward to Bulma's location.

Back at the tournament grounds, Gohan's eyes widened as he gasped, looking away from the fight between Choi and Uub and he stood up.

"Gohan?" Goku started but he too felt something was very wrong and he stood up beside him, looking in the same direction.

"Something happened to Piccolo!" Gohan cried out and Goku nodded.

"That dark energy I felt earlier, it got to him as well," he noted and Gohan clenched his fists.

"What's going on, grandpa?" came Pan's inquiry and Gohan dismissed her with a wave.

"Pan, stay here with mom. Your grandfather and I will handle this," he said. _Sorry Piccolo, I can't ignore this._

"Kakarot, wait," Broly's voice called up to the two and they stopped to face him.

"Let me come with you," he said and Cheelai gave him a look.

"Why?" she asked him. Broly set Arugula back down beside her mother and stood up. He gave Goku and Gohan a determined look and the three Saiyans nodded.

"Hey, if you all are going, we should help you out, shouldn't we?" Pan said, standing up and Videl glared at her.

"I don't think so. And I don't think you three should be leaving at the first sign of trouble either," she told everyone, gazing a moment at each of them. Gohan couldn't help but continue to stare outward at the source of the evil energy, moving fast within both Tien and Piccolo and Goku's eyes widened when he could feel where they were heading to.

"That's where Bulma's at!" Goku cried and put two fingers to his forehead. "C'mon, it'll be faster this way."

"Right," Gohan said and Broly quickly put a hand on Goku's shoulder. He was still unfamiliar with this whole instantaneous movement, but trusted Goku enough that this would take them where they needed to go.

"What about Choi and Uub's fight?" Bok asked, gesturing to the two on the stage. Goku sighed, closing his eyes.

"Bulma's in grave danger. What I thought was evil energy that took over Tien has now affected Piccolo. I don't know why but they're closing in on Bulma fast. If we don't hurry, Bulma might either be killed by them or be taken over."

"What?!" Bulla yelled, standing up. "What do you mean, 'taken over'?"

"I sensed Piccolo and Tien were fighting a moment ago. But after a moment, Piccolo's energy vanished and whatever evil energy that was inside Tien is in Piccolo as well. I'm worried this is going to spread if we don't put a stop to it and your mother might be the next one to be affected."

"Then I'm coming with you!" she shouted, grabbing his arm. Goku paused a moment, unsure whether involving Bulla was a good idea or not but given how strong she's become over the last few months, he couldn't help but smile down at Vegeta's daughter and nodded. She glanced over at Pan and Pan could tell there was a great deal of worry all over her face. She became tense, struggling with the idea of going with them and knew there was only a few precious seconds to make up her mind about joining them or not.

"Stay with the family, Bok," Broly told his son, catching him eyeing the group. He could tell Bok wanted to tag along but this was something he wasn't sure his son should be involved in.

"Hey, whatever evil energy is threatening your friends, I don't want to sit by and let it happen," Bok said, already on his feet walking behind Lemo to join his father, who raised a hand in protest.

"Stay where you are," he said in a grave voice, the only tone Bok knew had set even Choi straight. Arugula wrapped her arms around Broly's leg tightly.

"Papa, don't go!" she whined, burying her face in his large leg and Broly's eyes widened a bit. He glanced at the others and sighed. Cheelai stood up and gave him a look only Broly knew she would give him, the look she had when he was putting himself in danger. Her beautiful lavender eyes were begging him to stay and be with his family and Broly began to relent, gently lifting his hand off Goku's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Kakarot. I cannot help you," Broly felt defeated but his hand on Arugula's little head of white hair did give him some comfort. Videl sighed, glancing at Gohan.

"I wish you wouldn't go either," she told him, her voice matching the look Cheelai gave Broly. She had been fraught with so much worry since Pan's fight with Choi that Gohan couldn't help but give her a sympathizing look.

"Dad and I can handle our own, and I want to be sure Bulla here stays safe against whatever this threat is. If possible, we should just grab Bulma and bring her back here so she's out of harm's way."

"That solves one problem, but I'm just as worried about what happened to Tien and Piccolo and whatever these Freeza androids did to them," Goku said and began focusing his energy to sense Bulma, which took him a bit because of how small the aura was compared to someone like Piccolo. He didn't want to chance it and teleport directly to Piccolo on the off chance that a similar situation could happen to the three of them. Keeping Bulma safe and secure was his top priority now. _I'm sorry, Uub. Keep fighting hard and don't worry about winning or losing, just do your best._

Pan's eyes darted nervously back and forth between her father and mother and she made a hasty decision to get up and run to grab Bulla's hand just as Goku spotted Bulma's energy trace and began the teleportation sequence.

"Pan, don't!" Videl cried out but she was too late to react as Pan disappeared with the other three.

"Dammit, Pan!"

On the stage, Uub stopped a moment and narrowly blocked a shot from Choi, who eyed him quizzically.

"What's wrong with you?" Choi asked.

"Master's no longer in the stands," Uub noted, glancing up at the audience. He saw that Goku, Gohan, Bulla, and Pan were no longer there and his face grew grim with worry.

"You're leaving yourself open!" Choi yelled and caught Uub with a right hook to the face, almost knocking Uub down, and Uub had to block the subsequent flurry of blows from Choi.

"Will you wait a moment?! Something's going on outside!" Uub told him, catching a fist in his hand.

"So? Who cares what they do? Fight me!" Choi yelled and freed his hand from Uub's grasp. Uub stood ready for the next assault and glared at Choi.

"Master wouldn't go through the trouble of leaving like this if there wasn't something really bad happening out there. Haven't you been picking up on some strange dark energy off in the distance?" Uub asked and Choi sighed, stopping himself from attacking again.

"What of it?"

"Something happened to Piccolo," he told him and Choi cocked an eyebrow.

"Who's that?"

"Seriously? The tall green-skinned guy with the turban and mantle," Uub informed him and Choi crossed his arms, but then shrugged seconds later.

"If something happened to him, that's his problem, not mine. He probably got careless," Choi remarked and Uub glared at him.

"Piccolo would never be careless about anything!" Uub shouted and Choi smirked at that quip.

"Oh good, I was starting to get bored," Choi said and Uub growled a bit. He didn't like that Choi got to him so easily in that one moment and he calmed himself down.

 _Master Goku has enough confidence in me to let me fight this to the end. I hope that whatever this is, you can take care of it and come back._

Uub planted his feet firmly on the stage and focused his gaze squarely on Choi.

"I trust Master Goku enough that he's got this situation under control. I don't have to worry about his safety distracting me from defeating you," Uub said and Choi's eyes lit up.

"Ho? Defeat me, you say? What could you possibly do that can defeat a Super Saiyan like me?" Choi remarked coyly and he planted his hands on his hips, waiting for whatever Uub was about to do.

"Time to put my training to use. You've been waiting for this and I apologize that we got distracted earlier," Uub said and Choi waved him off.

"Yeah yeah, just get on with it already."

Uub clenched his fists and began powering up, closing his eyes. His energy spiked up considerably as the ground shook around him and Choi continued to glance at him nonchalantly. He wasn't impressed with whatever Uub's doing at the moment and felt that his powering up only delayed the inevitable in his eyes.

The wind started to pick up and blow around Uub, blowing fiercely against Choi's hair and the ground below began to crack underneath him. Choi's smile faded as he lowered his hands, watching Uub more closely. It was then that he felt the biggest jump in Uub's energy and his eyes widened.

"KAIO-KEN!" Uub screamed and a bright red aura blazed around him. Broly's family watched in shock as Arugula's face lit up in excitement.

"Woah!~" she gasped in amazement, watching Uub's red aura flare around him.

"Kaio-ken? The heck's that?" Lemo asked, arms crossed. Bok shrugged his shoulders, but couldn't help but stare on, excited for where this was heading. Broly stared a moment at Uub and narrowed his eyes.

"Haven't I seen Kakarot have an aura like that before?" Broly thought out loud. Uub's hair was still the same color and he was left feeling as confused as both Bok and Lemo were. Arugula was admiring the red aura that surrounded Uub and she couldn't help but giggle while holding Mr. Bronto.  
"You were right, Mr. Bronto! Uub looks like a big red tomato!" she squealed admirably. Cheelai stifled a snort of amusement, looking away red in the cheeks while she could see a mixed array of emotions in Videl's face as she sat alone now. The woman sighed heavily and crossed her arms, feigning the urge to bury her face in her hand but it was heavily pressed against the side of her head regardless. Cheelai felt the need to put a hand on the woman's shoulder and Videl nearly gasped from the reaction, turning around in surprise.

"Huh? Wha? Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be spooked like that," she told her, taking in a few breaths before standing up to walk over to their row. She sat down beside Cheelai and breathed a heavy sigh of dismay and sadness. This was more stress than she wanted and this was supposed to be a vacation away from housework and from Gohan's daily grind at the University giving lectures, and attending conferences that were either about economics, science, history, or archeology. She felt helpless in trying to keep her family grounded at home and started feeling as if her own daughter was slipping away from her. She scanned the family to her side and smiled warmly at Arugula when the two locked eyes.

"I miss when Pan was that age," Videl said, leaning forward.

"Um, I never got the chance to give you a proper apology for what my son did to your daughter. Please forgive me," Cheelai said, her tone serious but shaky.

"No apology is necessary. I should apologize myself for being too lenient and permissive with Pan. She shouldn't be out fighting. I couldn't bear to see her injure herself so much from a fight."

The two women continued their chat while Uub floated a couple of feet above the stage, gearing himself for his attack on Choi. The Super Saiyan was ready for this, wondering what sort of trick Uub had up his sleeve, now that he made himself glow red.

Choi took up a fighting stance and grinned at Uub, his eyes narrowed and focused. "Come."

Uub was right on him, taking him by surprise. He wasn't prepared for how fast Uub had become and it was equally surprising when he took a hard punch right in the gut that managed to lift him off his feet. He was hit so hard people thought they could see a bulge coming out from his back from how deep Uub's fist dug into him and his eyes widened.

Uub followed up with a roundhouse that sent Choi reeling back on his side but he was able to get enough of his bearings together and stop himself from flying off the stage, moving in for a flurry of blows that Uub was able to dodge and block, tagging Choi's fists with his own with several shots blocked by his forearm and feet.

 _What the hell kind of power is this?_ Choi yelled in his head and he was growing visibly frustrated with the impact of some of Uub's blows, adding onto the damage he took moments ago from the strong uppercut.

Uub was able to gain some distance before he smiled and let the aura fade out. Choi noticed a slight increase in the size of Uub's muscles but they quickly faded back to their normal size. He clutched at his stomach with one hand and glared at Uub.

"So what is that Kaio-whats-it?" Choi asked, rubbing his stomach and wincing at how bad it felt.

"The last thing Master Goku needed to teach me before he felt I was ready for this tournament," Uub informed him and Choi's face darkened. _Giving praise to that Saiyan again, what rubbish_ Choi felt compelled to think on it but his face told Uub all the same…

… _Locked away within the vast emptiness of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, the four that walked in: Goku, Uub, Pan, and Piccolo, were gauging the surroundings while Goku and Piccolo exchanged looks._

" _This is the first time we've stepped in together like this," Piccolo told him and Goku smirked._

" _Yeah. It's been such a long time since I last set foot in this place. Yo, Uub! Make sure you don't stray too far away from this building! If you get lost, you'll be lost forever out there!"_

 _Uub felt the increased gravity the moment he stepped off the lone step and onto a surface he hadn't felt before under his feet. It felt warm yet cold at the same time and the texture was nothing like anything he had felt before. Smooth? Grainy? Bumpy? It was very confusing to his mind to process this but watching Pan take all of this in was noted in how she almost looked freaked out by how much of a void existed beyond their sight. It stretched on endlessly and she couldn't fathom the proper expression to react to all this._

" _Grandpa? Why in the world would you want to train in a place like this? Someone could go insane cooped up in here for so long!" she cried out and Goku chuckled a bit._

" _You get used to it. The fridge is always stocked full of food, the baths and toilets are to your left, and the beds are to the right. Besides, with four of us here, we'll get you guys good and ready for the Tournament. There's a reason why I wanted to bring you in here, Uub."_

" _There is?" Uub asked, turning to face him._

" _Yeah. I think you're ready to learn a very important technique, something that only I know how to do. But I know you have the potential to learn it and the body to withstand it," Goku said and that left Uub a little lost._

" _Withstand what, exactly?"_

" _The Kaioken technique," Goku told him and Piccolo couldn't hide his surprise._

" _You're seriously going to teach the Kaioken to Uub? King Kai once said that you were the only one with the physiology capable of mastering it, being a Saiyan. Why would you want to pass that along to a human like Uub?" it was a legitimate question on Piccolo's part and Goku walked over to Uub, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders._

" _Because he's a human gifted with incredible power and durability that the Kaioken won't wreck his body if he knows how to use it effectively. By the time we've used most of a full day outside, I think Uub will have the ability to go as high as a times five multiplier with enough training."_

" _Um, Master? I'm completely lost here. What is Kaioken and what do you mean by multipliers? Is this how you get so crazy strong in your fights from what you've told me before?" Uub asked and Goku clenched his fist, flexing his left arm._

" _You betcha," he said. "King Kai taught me this a long time ago when I was training on his planet for the first time. You use your energy to focus every single molecule of your body to bring it into balance. Once you can do that, you can then enhance everything multiple times. Your strength, speed, durability, focus, sight, sound, they all become elevated."_

" _Wow, that's amazing! I bet you got incredibly powerful against your opponents then, huh?" Uub said but his excitement was short-lived with Goku's serious gaze staring back at him._

" _This doesn't come without a heavy price though. Using Kaioken for too long taxes your body considerably. You risk putting yourself in grave danger by wrecking your body with overuse. With your body, you can probably at most handle four to five times, but any higher and you'll damage your body too much. I can't imagine what that might do to a human, because I know what it did to me as a Saiyan."_

" _He's also not as reckless as you are when it comes to fighting, Goku," Piccolo chimed in and Goku blushed out of embarrassment, chuckling nervously._

" _I know, I know, I do get carried away sometimes, don't I?" he said and Piccolo smirked._

" _Do what you must to make sure Uub masters this before we leave. I'll see what I can do with Pan here," he said and Pan strolled over to him briskly._

" _Uncle Piccolo, do you have anything you'd like to teach me? I've seen you do quite a few things whenever you sparred with my dad," she said and glanced over at Uub and Goku. She thought of an idea._

" _Hey, how about we each do our own training, then we can have a two-on-two fight afterwards? I can team up with Uncle Piccolo while you two make the other team," Pan told the three of them and Uub nodded with a smile._

" _I like that idea. If I can master Kaioken before that day comes, I hope whatever training you do with Mr. Piccolo will be just as good."_

" _But I don't want to just do any old boring training. I want to develop something that I can have for myself, you know? A technique that I can build on and make it look really awesome, like a new version of the Masenko, or a homing Kamehameha, or that technique where Uncle Piccolo fires so many energy blasts randomly he makes them all hit his opponent like BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!" she couldn't hide her overly enthusiastic display of admiration towards Piccolo and the Namekian blushed a bit before clearing his throat._

" _I do have other techniques," he stated and charged up his energy, using it to split himself into three copies and Pan's face lit up, her eyes sparkling with excitement._

" _Wow! So many of you! I want to do that one!" she yelled and rushed over to grab his hands, jumping up and down._

" _Uncle Piccolo, teach me that copying technique! I want to surprise Bulla at the Tournament with how many copies of myself I can make," Pan gleefully continued hopping up and down and Piccolo calmed her down with a look, stopping her from making herself dizzy from all that hopping._

" _You just had your potential unlocked by the Supreme Kai but using a multiplication technique requires a lot of focus of the mind and the body to pull it off. What Goku and I want out of you both for the first few months is a steady regimen of mental focus and meditation to balance your energy. Once we're sure you're ready, we'll begin the proper training."_

" _Ugh, that long? I got so bored standing still while that Kai guy was doing that stupid dance of his. Just sitting down and doing nothing for months?" Pan rolled her eyes, sighing but steeled herself with a single look from Piccolo as he crossed his arms._

" _If you've got time to whine, you should be using that to sit and meditate," he told her sternly and Pan nodded reluctantly._

" _Y-yeah. Sorry Uncle Piccolo," she told him, holding her arm with her hand in a half-hug while looking away._

 _While Uub and Pan were busy with meditation and mental training, Goku and Piccolo got in a few training sessions of their own to pre-occupy themselves over the next few weeks. Half of their time was split between sparring and meditating along with the kids to make sure that things were progressing smoothly until the day arrived when Uub first attempted the Kaioken technique. While difficult at first, he was able to get a grasp of the boost in a little over a month's time. Pan got better with her multiplication technique, first splitting into two, then doubling that, and doubling it two more times until she showed everyone sixteen different copies of herself._

" _Wow, you got really good with that technique, Pan," Goku noted and Pan couldn't hide her pride, flashing a V sign at her grandfather._

" _I got so focused on mastering this that I wasn't paying much attention to Uub. How is he with the Kaioken?" she asked and Goku pointed to him with his thumb._

" _See for yourself," Goku noted, and the three watched Uub blaze around the area, a bright red flash that blurred across their field of vision. Pan couldn't see what he was doing but she assumed it was done at incredible speed. Uub finished off with a Kamehameha blast that shot across the endless void, and he touched down in front of them afterwards. When he powered back down, he collapsed to his hands and knees and Pan gasped, running over to help him sit down._

" _Are you okay?" she asked._

 _Uub gave her a weak smile but he nodded nonetheless._

" _That…that was about a four times multiplier…right there," he muttered and hissed as he gritted his teeth._

" _Take it easy, don't push yourself so much," Pan told him and Uub was slow to get back to his feet._

" _I lost count of how long I've been going at it today. I'm pretty wiped now," Uub said, arm around Pan's shoulder as she helped him up the step to the beds. She eased him onto his bed and gave Goku a look that wondered if he was going overboard with this training._

" _You've been doing an amazing job, Uub. However, you should avoid using Kaioken during the tournament unless you absolutely need to, so long as you don't push yourself beyond what your body is capable of" Goku informed him and Uub's eyes were fixated above him. He tried to sit up but his body ached all over that he felt like a huge magnet confined him to the bed._

" _Sorry if I'm worrying you, Pan," Uub told her, reaching up with his hand to her and she took it within her hands. He did steal a smile from her and returned one of his own before he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep…_

…Choi's Super Saiyan aura was still flaring wildly around him. Had this fight took place during the night, he would've been the brightest source of light to illuminate the whole island with how powerful it was.

He went back on the offensive, flickering in short bursts to move in on Uub, who prepared himself by going back into Kaioken and the two traded blows on the stage, Uub getting in a few blocks while Choi nimbly dodged any counterattacks. He anticipated Uub's movements a bit more this time, factoring the increase in speed and strength. The two caught each other's arms and Choi tried to bring in a few knee shots up at Uub, who blocked them with his own legs and the two were tied-up in a heated close-quarters battle before Choi broke it off by swatting Uub's arms out and going for an uppercut which Uub dodged by flipping backwards and in his momentum brought up his leg for a flip kick to Choi's head, which had been narrowly blocked. Uub flipped back a few feet to gain some distance again and fired off a few energy blasts that Choi swerved to avoid and counter with some of his own.

The two continued trading energy blasts that either missed or connected with each other and the resulting explosions rocked the stage and the island as a whole, coughing up dust clouds and flashes of light from the explosive impact. The intensity of the energy given off by the two generated lightning bolts that sparked outward and travelled along the ground in random directions, miraculously avoiding the spectators, though one did drop their tray of snacks in the process that got fried in the aftermath.

"What an intense battle we're witnessing here today! Contestants Choi and Uub are really giving their all in this final battle!" the announcer cried, though he was mostly shielding his face from the dust and debris while calling what he assumed was the apex of the fight between the two.

Uub felt the pressure of Choi's movements bear down on him, forcing him to go into a higher multiplier just to keep up. Choi's Super Saiyan power was proving itself to become a bigger problem the more he was fighting him and that initial blow he dealt to him with the single multiplier was his best chance to catch him off-guard when he found an opening due to the confusion surrounding the technique that none of them had seen before. He was keeping a steady pace and felt evenly matched at this point when he hit the three-times multiplier, but he knew this needed to be done quickly otherwise too much of it was going to start hurting his body and leave him vulnerable.

 _If this keeps up any longer, I might have to go all the way to five times,_ Uub thought as he swerved to avoid another set of kicks from Choi, using his leg strength to his advantage and he kicked off from the stage below and charged energy in his hands, slicing the air to send energy arcs barrelling down on Uub. But due to the increase in speed and power from his Super Saiyan state, the arcs were coming down more rapidly and in increased numbers, forcing Uub to flip and move around the stage to avoid them, but wasn't so lucky a couple of times when he caught one slicing his shoulder and his left leg and he grunted as the cuts were a bit deeper than they usually were and blood spurted out onto the stage as Choi landed back down and Uub grabbed at the cut on his shoulder with one hand, the other going to his leg above the knee.

"You should be thankful for that Kaioken; it's been saving your butt so far," Choi said disparagingly. He broke into a sprint, running straight at Uub, who lifted his hand to fire a few energy blasts that Choi moved around on the stage to avoid and Uub was forced to ignore the cuts entirely to focus on the boy rushing towards him. Choi was ready to attack him again with his hands outstretched and surrounded with energy, primed for another set of energy arcs that if Uub wasn't careful, would cut him even more all over his body.

Uub felt not only perplexed but a bit concerned for Choi's newfound aggression, as if he were showing signs of bloodlust more so than his competitiveness. His discomfort paired with the pain of not only the cuts on his body, but the slight burden he felt from the Kaioken technique. _I only have so little time to use Kaioken before it wears me out completely so I gotta go five times if I'm gonna take him down._

Choi closed in on him and Uub had his eyes focused solely on him, his mind ready with his senses attuned to Choi's energy. Choi was running so fast, it looked like he was low to the floor of the stage and readying himself to swing upward with his attack, something Uub knew he only had one shot to pull off.

When Choi swung upward with his hands, Uub ducked low, stretching out his legs to widen his stance and he swung his arms to bring his hands together below Choi.

Choi's eyes widened as he was still moving, unable to stop in time for what Uub was going to do and he braced himself for the worst. Uub flashed him a gaze from below, his expression hard and direct.

"Kaioken Times Five!" Uub screamed and thrust his hands forward, quickly charging up energy to drive Choi up to the sky with an energy beam that pushed him off the stage and directed him towards the heavens.

Choi screamed as he was being launched upward at an alarming rate, eyes wide with panic and fury as he was caught in the blast. He moved as quickly as he could to push himself off the energy beam and he managed to roll himself off and watch as the beam soared out of the planet's orbit and out into space.

Breathing heavily as he spent a great deal of energy moving himself off the energy beam, he glared maliciously down at the island far below him. The storm of anger that boiled deep inside his mind had been amplified considerably from his Super Saiyan form and he flew back down to the island. When he approached the stage, he could see Uub was still nursing those cuts and a wicked grin appeared on his face.

"Red suits you, faux-hawk," Choi uttered, his anger ebbing at his sanity now as he stalked his way over to him. "You'll be bleeding red all over your body and clothes like that aura."

Uub grunted, making occasional glances at his cuts. _This kid's really something else. Heh._

Uub managed a confident smile and stood again in a fighting stance, eyeing Choi with as much anticipation as he could muster before his body would give out on him.

Choi's breathing was still pretty laboured as Uub noticed that he too was reaching his limit. The damage he was taking, regardless of his Super Saiyan form, might be enough to bring him out of it and back to his base. If he could hit him hard enough with his times five Kaioken, he might be able to pull it off.

Clenching his fists, Uub screamed and powered up again, the red aura flaring even bigger and brighter than before. Choi's cry of rage preceded his direct flight towards Uub and the two connected with their fists, the energy shaking the ground with a sudden shock. With his times five Kaioken, Uub was slightly faster, but only for a moment, connecting with a few body blows and punches to Choi's head before the boy caught his fist and laid into him with a few punches of his own, aiming for the open cut on Uub's shoulder which caused him to cry out. Choi was aiming a punch for Uub's leg but was met with a head-butt that made him stagger back a few steps, grabbing at his face.

The crowd had a variety of reactions: Awe, wonder, concern, and confusion as to what they were seeing, or rather what they couldn't see since the two were going at it so fast that an untrained eye and lack of energy sensing wouldn't know where they were.

Cheelai gasped and put her hands to her mouth as she saw Choi headbutted in the face. Videl couldn't help but wince as well from the sight, just as she had earlier when she saw Uub get sliced by those energy blades.

Arugula tried to put on a brave face and cheer Uub, but the intensity of the battle forced her to hide her face in Broly's chest, clutching at his shirt until her knuckles were white. Broly had his arm around her, soothing her with his hand on her head while both Lemo and Bok were on the edge of their seats.

"C'mon bro, stay in there," Bok whispered.

"Do it kid! You can win this!" Lemo was way into the fight with enough excitement for the whole group, the only one who seemed the most fired up out of anyone in their whole section while Broly watched the fight quietly.

A trickle of blood seeped down from Choi's nose as he wiped it on the back of his hand, staining his taped wrists. He glared at Uub, lowering his hand. He never realized how much the fight was taking its toll on his own body, since this was the first time he was experiencing the Super Saiyan transformation. It was taxing his body and the heightened emotional response he was feeling, much to his chagrin, was making it harder to focus on Uub.

"Gotta…gotta end this…" he said through laboured breathing and he took up a fighting stance once more.

Uub stared back and eyed his shoulder a couple of times. He couldn't afford to have his arm give out on him due to the numbness he was feeling, wondering if all the blood loss was making it hard for him to use his right arm effectively. He closed and opened his hand a few times, shaking it and felt that there was still enough strength to finish this fight. He cupped his hands together and charged up energy one more time. Choi laughed a bit through his heavy breathing.

Screaming, Choi flared up his golden aura as high as he could push it, fists clenched tightly and feet planted firmly on the stage. Uub brought his hands to his side, ready to fire.

 _This one's for you, Master._

Choi stepped forward, stomping the stage to launch himself and Uub screamed as he fired the Kamehameha blast at him. Choi caught it, stopping himself in his tracks and was able to hold it at bay. Uub winced at the sharp pain he was feeling in his shoulder and leg, the combined effort of his Kamehameha and his times five Kaioken holding Choi in place but it wasn't pushing him back. If anything, Choi was starting to push the energy beam _back_ at Uub and Uub's eyes widened.

"What the?"

Choi grinned as he took one step after the next, slowly pushing the energy beam back at Uub.

 _What do I do now? If I let go, he'll either knock me out of the ring or knock me out cold._

He felt lost for a moment. Without Goku's encouraging voice and motivation, Uub felt a bit of panic growing within him and he wasn't sure whether he could win this now. He wanted to win this fight to prove that all his training meant something to him, and that the prize money would help his village sustain itself for the rest of his life, as well as build that monument to honor his parents.

He stared through the light of the energy beam at Choi's face, twisted with a slight sadism as he smiled, pushing the energy back towards him. Each step brought that face closer to Uub's and Uub felt disgusted staring at it.

 _If this kid wins, I won't hear the end of it. I'm sorry master, I can't let someone like him win this, he doesn't deserve it!_

Uub felt his legs weaken underneath him and almost felt his knees buckle. If they gave out on him, he would've lost control of the Kamehameha and burned himself out from the output of the Kaioken. But he steeled himself and stared back, eyes wide and determined.

Broly's eyes widened as well as he could sense the sudden jump in Uub's energy, more than he had anticipated and he actually felt genuine concern for the boy as much as he had for Choi. Out of the group that was still there to watch the tournament, Broly was able to sense how much energy the boys were putting out.

"Kaioken…" Uub muttered and Choi's smile disappeared. _What's he up to now?_

"TIMES TEN!" Uub screamed and the surge of power flowed into the Kamehameha and Choi's face was stricken with panic as he saw the overwhelming energy barreling towards him as though the dam broke completely and the raging river gushed forth in one fell swoop.

Unable to do anything, Choi was swallowed by the energy beam and he screeched. The crowd of spectators who were behind Choi scurried off before the beam hit their section, tearing through the section leaving a huge section demolished. It streamed across the island and over the ocean in a straight path, nowhere near any islands or civilizations for it to be a threat.

When the beam subsided, Choi was still standing. What little clothing he had on during this fight, shorts, taped wrists and ankles, were torn up. Smoke jutted out from his body from the aftermath of the energy blast as sections of his hands, arms, face and chest were blackened. His necklace of fangs and claws was vaporized and he no longer stood in his Super Saiyan state.

"Damn…you…" Choi breathed, glaring one last time at Uub before he fell forward face-first on the stage. Uub let go of his aura and collapsed on the stage as well, holding himself up on one knee. He chuckled a bit before he lost consciousness and fell to his side. The announcer rushed to the stage after he opened his eyes and saw that there was a hush that blanketed the area. He sighed heavily when he saw the demolished section of the stands and could see many cracks and tiles destroyed on the stage. He paused when he saw both Choi and Uub unconscious and swallowed after what felt like a while, sweating. He prayed that the worst-case scenario wasn't a reality and calmly approached the two boys.

"Ah, both contestant Uub and contestant Choi are down!" he started before taking a deep breath and reassuring himself that this was still an official match. "Whomever is able to get back to their feet before I count to ten will be declared the winner! ONE!" He started the count. Everyone was waiting now, watching the two youths on the stage for any signs of movement and listening with bated breath on the announcer's count as he continued.

"TWO!"

"THREE!"

"FOUR!"

"FIVE!"

"C'mon Choi, get up," Lemo said, standing up and clutching his toque tightly in his hands. Cheelai had her arms wrapped around Broly's tree-trunk like arm, her face slightly pale from seeing her son lying down again on the stage as both Bok and Broly waited, staring in stony silence for the finish. Videl had her hands clasped together and closed her eyes. She couldn't figure out where her thoughts were going, but she couldn't ignore Uub's current predicament and hoped that he was still okay and that he'd get back up before the ten count was finished.

"SIX!"

"SEVEN!"

The crowd was starting to break their silence as they cheered on Uub to get back to his feet. By proxy, they wanted to support him as much as they had supported Pan, hoping and praying that Uub would rise up to his feet before the announcer finished but neither boy had moved yet.

"EIGHT!"

"NINE!"

Not even the announcer was sure whether he wanted to say the number ten, since this was something he hadn't seen before. In all the tournaments he's announced, officiated and ran as head chairman, this was the first instance that the final match was going to end in a double knockout. He couldn't avoid it and felt a huge amount of regret in his voice as it shook slightly.

"TEN!"

He closed his eyes reflexively as he said that word. It was the hardest ten count he had ever had to make and when he opened his eyes, he saw that there was still no movement from either Choi or Uub and he checked on them quickly. He looked over each boy for a few seconds and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I have good news! They're still alive! They're unconscious but they're still alive and breathing!" he yelled into the microphone and the crowd collectively sighed in relief as well. Cheelai couldn't help the tears streaming down her face and was held a bit more tightly by Broly while Videl grinned, elated that Uub was still okay.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this will no doubt go down in history as the wildest Tournament to declare the 'best under the heavens'!" he yelled and glanced a few more times at the boys to see if they started to move. Monks with stretchers quickly made their way to the stage to load the boys onto them and the announcer gave them the okay to haul them to the infirmary as quickly as possible.

"Since neither competitor was able to get back up on their feet by the count of ten, this match will be declared a draw!" he said and murmurs were starting among the crowd.

"A draw?"

"What does that mean?"

"Hey Ref, we want a winner!"

"Yeah! We want a winner!"

Chants of "we want a winner!" began pouring down onto the stage and the announcer sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I was afraid this was going to happen," he muttered to himself.

"The rules of the tournament are enforced for a reason. But because the match ended in a draw, neither competitor is declared the winner!" he stated.

"Then they both win!" said a burly man and the crowd roared in acknowledgment. The announcer blinked, removing his sunglasses for the first time, revealing heavy tan lines around his eyes.

"Two winners? Can I really allow that?" he pondered, pacing around the stage. He stopped when he saw the crowd all waiting on him and he smiled, putting his sunglasses back on.

"Well, since I didn't say that they both lost, by virtue of the Tournament committee, I officially declare the 30th World Martial Arts Tournament concluded with two winners splitting the prize money and sharing the coveted title as co-champions!"

The crowd burst in cheers and applause, Bok and Lemo standing up and hugging each other with Bok pumping his fist in the air. "Yeah, bro! Way to win one for the family!"

"That boy never ceases to amaze me!" Lemo said, directed more at Broly than anyone and the large Saiyan grinned a bit. He glanced down at Cheelai and the two stared at each other. Videl stood up and started walking away.

"Where are you going?" Cheelai asked her, catching her in the corner of her eye.

"To keep my future son-in-law company until my delinquent daughter decides to come back," Videl said as she stared out at the ocean that could now be seen after Uub's energy blast obliterated an entire section of the auditorium.

 **The harbinger arrives…**

Kelerot appeared several miles beyond the outskirts of Netfiss city. The air was serene and calm as he flew up to the sky to get a better view of the city. He studied the activity going on down below and saw several surveillance aircraft flying around with searchlights scanning the city below them. A small grin appeared on his face.

"As tenacious as ever. They'll never give up until they find me," he muttered and crossed his arms. He closed his eyes and sensed the energies of everyone on the planet, searching for specific signs and he opened his eyes.

"Cae and Toppo aren't here. But then again, neither is Jiren." Kelerot felt a slight moment of relief when he couldn't sense Jiren's presence on the planet. The last thing he wanted was another rematch against him for the time being. Engaging Jiren would put a halt to his quest to find Toppo rather quickly and he still wasn't certain of Jiren's true strength. But for now, he wanted to smoke out Dyspo and Kahseral first to extract Toppo's location out of them, confident that they were no longer a threat to him.

He raised a hand towards Netfiss city, channeling a dark purple swell of energy from his palm. His face was calm and focused as he stared down below.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22 – "Pride Troopers fall! A final declaration of justice against an unstoppable foe."**

A cool breeze blew through Netfiss city as Dyspo and Kahseral walked over to their coffee shop, located within a building a block away from Pride Trooper HQ. The wind tunnels the building generated almost blew Kahseral's beret off his head with a heavy gust, getting a chuckle or two from Dyspo as he tried to hold it in place. He often thought of just gluing the darn thing permanently on his head but losing out on that head of hair wasn't worth it.

Five days have passed since the fugitive escaped the planet. There was an initial wave of panic as citizens scrambled to seek shelter under orders from the Pride Troopers, reinforcing curfew.

Dyspo and Kahseral organized three varieties of patrols: the first being cycling foot patrols between Kettol and Kunshi, vehicle and air surveillance monitored by Zoiray from their battle cruiser, the _Gauntlet_ , and within HQ with the help of Cocotte. Interstellar patrols were carried out by Jiren in the slight chance the fugitive might've escaped to an outlying system elsewhere.

After the third day, the Pride Troopers were able to incorporate basic civic duties back into their daily routine: arresting those committing unlawful behaviour, aiding citizens, and rescuing lost animals.

Dyspo continued to be vigilant about his search for the fugitive, vowing that they would never give up until he would come back. Dyspo had a feeling he would return, boasting that "the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime."

"You still honestly believe the criminal will come back to Netfiss?" Kahseral asked him as they exited the coffee shop. Dyspo winced as he took a sip of the hot liquid and blew on it quickly to cool it down. Kahseral applied his usual cream and sugar from a small table the shop owner provided for customers before stirring it, looking up at the skyline.

"How many times will I have to repeat it to you, General? The crim-"

"The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime," the two spoke at the same time, generating a gruff sigh from Dyspo. Kahseral took a few sips before pausing and adjusting the beret on his head. He examined some schematics of his eye piece and performed a scan of the area. He paused before he took another sip and frowned.

"I'm about ready to call it quits on this wild goose chase to be honest," he said, not looking at anything in particular. Dyspo shook his head and sighed.

"This is not a mission Pride Troopers give up on, ever," he assured him and Kahseral gave him a sideways glance, his one eye looking tired from Dyspo's point of view.

"There's been a few grumblings from the upper ranks of the Troopers that you've been working the soldiers too much. A few of us have already decided to abandon this mission to resume our normal duties off-world. I think it's time I do the same," Kahseral said and Dyspo was a bit taken aback from this.

"As if I could do such a thing to our Troopers, General!" He protested but a look from Kahseral indicated that he wasn't entirely wrong. Dyspo sighed and tried to hide his flustered look behind his coffee cup.

"Sorry, that was mean-spirited of me," Dyspo relented and glanced down at the ground.

"Nonsense, my friend. Your resolve has carried this for all of us since the first day the criminal escaped us. Lord Barbon would be impressed at your tenacity to continue this mission for so long. I'm only contemplating this but I haven't made up my mind just yet. Come, let's head back to HQ and get our reports in. I'm certain one of the commanders have found something by now."

Kahseral put a hand on Dyspo's shoulder and the other general nodded with a grin. As they made their way to their headquarters, they spotted a few delinquents decorating the wall of an alleyway and the two shook their heads.

"Guess those reports will have to wait, then," Kahseral said and the two crossed the street to engage them.

"What's the meaning of this defacement?" Dyspo called out to the group, who looked no more than young adolescents. In their panic, they dropped what they were holding and ran off in the dark alleyway. Dyspo was about to give chase but a hand held him back.

"I would've let you take them in had they actually do anything with these paint cans but scaring them off works just as well," Kahseral said with a grin. Dyspo took a sip, glancing sideways at him and sighed through his beverage.

"A crime is still a crime," he said.

"You learn well enough to judge what crimes are worth apprehending criminals for and which ones are only in need of a stern look or a verbal warning. Besides, with the fugitive on the loose out there, telling a bunch of kids not to draw graffiti on a wall is almost a waste of our energy."

"Heh, hope you're not going soft on us, General," Dyspo said as he turned around. He took another sip and glanced up. He almost dropped the cup when he saw the silhouette of a figure in the sky, shadowed by the sunlight behind him so Dyspo couldn't recognize the face. He could see the hint of energy being channeled in front of the figure and his eyes widened a bit when he saw how familiar it looked.

"General," Dyspo muttered.

"Huh?"

"Look up."

Kahseral could see Dyspo lose a bit of color in his face as he stared wide-eyed up at the sky and he spotted the figure as well with an outstretched hand.

"It's him!"

"Him?"

"Yes, him! The fugitive!" Dyspo yelled, crushing the cup in his hand. He didn't care about the rest of the liquid that gushed out from it and tossed it aside, taking to the air immediately.

"Hey, wait!"

"Go to HQ and send a galaxy wide communication to the other Pride Troopers to get their butts back here immediately! We'll rendezvous at my coordinates! GO!" Dyspo commanded Kahseral and he flew off to the same height as the figure as Kahseral downed his cup as quickly as possible, ignoring that it was still a bit hot for him to be used to. He carefully threw it in the trash receptacle (taking care to throw out Dyspo's crushed cup as well) and ran as fast as he could to the headquarters and burst through the doors. Cocotte was lounging back, reading from a magazine.

"Captain, signal the Troopers!" Kahseral barked at her and she nearly fell off her chair backwards in a panic.

"Geez General, warn a girl first," she whined before adjusting herself and tossing the magazine aside. She put on her headset and entered a few keystrokes on their computer.

"Send a priority one distress signal to all Pride Troopers and make sure they relay the message to any that are out of range: Prisoner 312-1984 has returned! Repeat! Prisoner 312-1984 has returned!"

"On it!" Cocotte cried and immediately began relaying the message as Kahseral ran out of the building to fly up so he could meet Dyspo in the air.

Kelerot, his hand outstretched, grew more hesitant about firing this energy blast at the city. He felt his hand begin to shake and swallowed, closing his eyes. He shook his head before opening them again and studied his other hand.

"What am I doing?" he said and saw someone fly up to his eye level several hundred feet away and the energy in his hand shrunk until it was gone and he frowned, narrowing his eyes. There was another one that joined up with him shortly afterwards and Kelerot couldn't help but grin.

"Eh? Didn't I tell you, Kahseral?! I said he'd come back but no one believed me!" Dyspo said, laughing a bit. Kahseral was busy staring at Kelerot and noticed the different clothing on him and the look of confidence in his eyes.

"You've recovered," Kahseral said and Kelerot floated slowly towards them.

"A miracle if I do say so myself. I thought I was actually going to die but someone graciously healed me back to a hundred percent," Kelerot said. _And provided me with an incredible boost in power once more._

"The devil's luck will only get you so far, monster," Dyspo stated, crossing his arms and Kelerot rolled his eyes.

"Stubborn as always," Kelerot muttered.

"What was that?!" Dyspo cried out, pumping his fist at him. Kahseral put his hand on Dyspo's arm to lower it.

"Don't let him provoke you, General. Wait for the Troopers to arrive and then we'll engage him."

"Smart move, calling in reinforcements, Kahseral. Just know that it won't matter how many you bring in," Kelerot said, hands behind his back.

"Tch, what's with this confidence all of a sudden? Last time we saw you, you were running away scared with your tail between your legs. Do you honestly think you can handle us? We're the Pride Troopers! The most elite and powerful avatars of Justice of the entire universe!" Dyspo yelled, brimming with pride about the Troopers, something he had no qualms about saying when it mattered the most. Kelerot's grin widened a bit but he didn't say anything else, which unnerved him a bit.

"You won't be grinning so much once Jiren gets here, mark my words. If I could, I'd have Lord Barbon here himself to destroy you where you stand," Dyspo told him and Kelerot's eyes narrowed, his smile erased.

"So Toppo isn't here, then?" Kelerot said and closed his eyes. He shook his head after a few seconds.

"Hmph, how fortunate for you that he isn't here because I can't sense him anywhere. Maybe I still need time to adjust to this new power but I have an idea of what divine energy feels like and I would've been able to sense Toppo's location. Maybe at the Destroyer's world?"

He glanced up and looked to take off but Dyspo flew up to cut him off, almost to his face.

"You're not going anywhere! You will stand for your crimes here and now!" he screamed and Kelerot rolled his eyes.

"I have no business with any of you other than information about Toppo's location. But since he's not here I don't feel the need to stay. Call off your reinforcements, there's no need for useless blood to be spilled this day," Kelerot said and Dyspo grabbed him by the collar.

"You DARE threaten the Pride Troopers, you bastard?!" he sneered, gritting his teeth. He stared daggers at Kelerot wanting nothing more than to put him down for good.

"Trust me, if I threatened you, you'd know it," he replied and glanced down at Dyspo's hands. He wasn't agitated by this gesture and waited for Dyspo to let him go, which he relented a bit and relaxed his grip.

"We're not leaving you out of our sight this time, criminal. We made that mistake last time."

Kelerot floated back to gain some distance from the pair and crossed his arms. He brought his legs up to a seated position while in the air and closed his eyes.

"You know I've gained the ability to teleport out of here. But since you insist on taking me down I'll entertain you for a bit," Kelerot said, but his eyes focused squarely on Dyspo.

It wasn't long before several ships descended into the atmosphere. When they were close enough, hatches opened to reveal hundreds of Pride Troopers. Soldiers wearing their red and black spandex uniforms with white gloves and boots all flew down to meet up with Dyspo and Kahseral and they stared intently at Kelerot. Some looked nervous when he stared back at them, others looked defiantly at him, echoing Dyspo's disgust and disdain for the criminal. Cocotte soon joined up with them as well as Kunshi and Kettol and Kelerot eased out of his seated position to scan the whole area, looking at each Trooper cautiously.

"Commanders Kettol and Kunshi reporting ready with squads alpha and gamma, General!" Kunshi informed the two with a command pose. Kettol matched it with a pose of his own and Kahseral nodded, saluting them.

"Where is Commander Zoiray?" Dyspo asked the two.

"Standing by in the _Gauntlet_ , General," Kettol notified him and Dyspo nodded, smiling.

"Is he in direct orbit?" Dyspo asked him.

"Yes sir."

"Commander Zoiray, come in," Dyspo said, pressing a button on his wrist communicator.

"General," came a voice from the other end.

"I'm sending you coordinates for the Justice Blaster, prepare to fire on my mark," he said amid gasps from several soldiers.

"General, why would you want to aim the Justice Blaster on the planet? There're civilians that could become casualties in the crossfire!" Kettol informed him and Dyspo smirked.

"Have no fear, Commander, no civilians will be at risk. The blast is focused squarely on _him_ ," he said, pointing to Kelerot.

"I thought justice meant rehabilitating hardened criminals into productive members of society sucking at the teat of the Pride Troopers," Kelerot said, gaining a few cold stares from the soldiers.

"Your brand of evil is beyond redemption, monster," Dyspo hissed. "There is only one solution: to end your wickedness once and for all."

"Coordinates are set, target locked in, sir," Zoiray's voice came through the communicator and Dyspo narrowed his eyes, staring directly at Kelerot.

" _Fire_."

A pillar of light surrounded Kelerot from the sky and he glanced up at the source, raising an eyebrow. Particles of light danced upward from the ground as the pillar grew brighter and the energy began to solidify in a huge beam of energy that shot down from the heavens directly above Kelerot. He stared up at it quietly and soon enough the light enveloped him completely, slamming itself down on the planet's surface. The soldiers shielded their eyes from the explosion, which rocked the area around it, sending shockwaves cascading towards Netfiss city. Dyspo smiled as a barrier blocked the oncoming energy waves and he laughed out loud.

"Hah! Take that!" he cried, staring directly at the pillar of light. Some of the soldiers joined in and began cheering as Dyspo raised his wrist to his mouth.

"Excellent shot, Commander Zoiray! What's the ETA on Jiren?" he asked.

"The signal barely reached him, sir. But we can calculate that at his distance and velocity, he should reach Netfiss within 10 minutes at top speed," Zoiray informed him and Dyspo nodded.

"Good. Keep this channel open, Commander," Dyspo said.

When the light dissipated, smoke billowed up from the impact that concealed the area before him. They wanted to be sure that the light vaporised the criminal in front of him and waited patiently for the smoke and dust to clear.

A few seconds passed and some of the soldiers were growing restless. They wanted to be sure that the target was eliminated and continued staring ahead. Some gulped, swallowing after what felt like a long time since they last did so. The more restless of them felt their hearts beat faster, nervousness in their faces making them sweat.

Dyspo turned to Kahseral. "Whoever thought of our massive space cannon should get a promotion. I love that piece of technology."

"Um, that was actually your idea, General," Kahseral said, netting a giggle from Cocotte. She hid her smile and laugh behind her hand but Dyspo chuckled anyway, hands to his hips.

"Lord Barbon should be proud of our _Gauntlet_ , the Justice Blaster worked like a charm," he said, and was immediately cut off by a beam of energy that shot upward from the smoke. His eyes widened as he spun around quickly to see the source of the energy beam and his eyes shot upward.

"ZOIRAY, GET OUT OF THERE!" he screamed but the channel cut off into audio static. An explosion heard from above immediately ensued and several pieces of the _Gauntlet_ flew into the atmosphere below, the Pride Troopers looking on in horror.

"Zoiray…" Cocotte whispered, covering her mouth. Kahseral was left speechless, Kettol and Kunshi hung their heads, eyes closed, and Dyspo slowly glared at the smoke that cleared up, revealing Kelerot with his hand raised up in the air, glaring at him.

"Zoiray," Kahseral said soberly, looking down.

"Tupper," Kettol added.

"Vuon," said Kunshi, echoing the same sentiment. Dyspo clenched his fists tightly. If he hadn't worn his gloves, his nails would've dug so deep into his skin it would've drawn blood.

"Three of our finest Troopers felled by this monster," he said and looked up at him.

"How many more Pride Troopers must you murder in cold blood before you're satisfied?!" he screamed at Kelerot.

"As many as there will be too stupid to get in my way of the only ones that matter," Kelerot replied.

"What?!" screamed Dyspo and Kelerot lowered his hand.

"Listen to me, soldiers of the Pride Troopers!" Kelerot called out to the group behind Dyspo and the other top officers.

"Whatever he tells you is a lie! Stand your ground and fight!" Dyspo called out to them but Kelerot ignored him for now.

"None of you need to die this day! Not a single one of you will die here so long as you stand down and go home! This doesn't involve you and I hope that you won't have to die so needlessly after joining ranks with these officers.

"The same goes for the higher ranking officers. If your space cannon was ineffective against me, that should serve as a warning of the kind of power I wield before you. You are good people fighting for a righteous cause, a cause I once believed in until those two," he pointed at Kahseral and Dyspo, "arrested me for a crime I didn't commit. Go and live another day so that you can protect this universe against the real criminal scum that seek to undermine it! This is my one and only warning: Do not force my hand, otherwise it'll end badly for all of you!"

"Do not sully our good name with your lies, monster!" Dyspo cried out, pointing a stabbing finger in his direction and Kelerot palmed his face, sighing.

"What will it take to get through to you morons?!" Kelerot cried out, losing his patience and the soldiers took up fighting positions, some drawing their blaster pistols from their holsters.

"Your threats are empty, prisoner 312-1984! Justice will prevail tod-" Dyspo began but couldn't believe how fast Kelerot had moved to appear in front of one of the soldiers, who was too freaked out to even notice what had happened. In a single moment, he stared face to face with Kelerot who had his hand in front of him, palm facing outward. Dyspo was too dumbstruck to register the speed at which Kelerot had moved. _How did he move that fast?!_

The soldier raised his blaster pistol with shaking hands up at Kelerot, who stared at him with a calm yet cold expression. He could see the sheer terror in the poor man's eyes and for a moment he didn't want to do this. He could've left this battlefield the whole time but he felt compelled to teach that long-eared imbecile a lesson and he narrowed his eyes at the soldier.

" _Hakai_ ," he muttered and destruction energy enveloped the soldier from the inside, a wave of energy that jutted outward from his whole body and the soldier screamed an inhuman scream that dissolved itself in the air before the rest of him dissipated into purple particles to the horror of everyone around him. His whole body deconstructed and destroyed before their very eyes. All that was left were bright purple molecules that eventually disappeared in front of them and the soldier ceased to exist.

"It can't be," said one of the other soldiers.

"He's a God of Destruction?!"

"This is absurd, we didn't enlist for this!" said another and Dyspo glared at all of them.

"Stand your ground, all of you! Don't let this intimidate you!" Dyspo said, trying to put on a brave face but even the sight of a living being erased from existence for the first time in his life rattled him fiercely. His face betrayed his emotions as he watched Kelerot stare emotionlessly at the void that was once a soldier and the fear of a Destroyer's power became very real for him. He always somewhat underestimated Barbon's power when he heard that he was training to succeed Belmod as God of Destruction. He remembered seeing the power of Destruction energy but only when it came to inanimate objects. That it could destroy Katchi-katchitite so easily during the Tournament of Power was one thing; seeing it destroy a living person before his very eyes sealed it for him that this power was real, and it was _terrifying._

"Scramble! Make sure he doesn't get near you to destroy you!" Kahseral's orders cut through the tension as the soldiers immediately gained distance from Kelerot.

"Fire! Fire!" Kahseral barked again and the soldiers fired their blaster pistols at Kelerot. The blaster bolts did nothing but bounce off of him as he studied the area, soldiers surrounding him from all directions.

"General, we need your instructions," Cocotte flew up to him. She could see that he was deep in thought as he stared at Kelerot and she shook him by the shoulders.

"General! Get a hold of yourself! We need to be brave! Remember, this is our justice, our way! We won't let him get away with this anymore!" she cried out and Dyspo swallowed, taking a few deep breaths.

"Y-yes, you're right, Captain. I apologize for losing my nerve. Kunshi, Kettol, to me!" he called out and the two commanders flew to him. The shorter blue-skinned Pride Trooper looked equally nervous about having witnessed the horrific display but he saluted Dyspo regardless. Kettol remained stoic but he too showed uneasiness in his face when he saluted the General.

"We'll mourn our losses afterwards. For now, we must show the utmost courage and resolve. Determination will enforce justice, remember that. Cocotte, I need you to form a barrier to surround Kunshi and Kettol so Kunshi can lay his network while Kettol surrounds the criminal with his guided energy balls. We'll bombard him with as much firepower as we can within that energy barrier until Jiren arrives. He's our only hope against him."

"But sir, we can take him down ourselves. We'll defeat him before Jiren arrives, I'm certain of it," Kettol told him and Dyspo nodded with a weak smile.

"Thank you, Commander. We could use a lot of that today. Kahseral and I will ready our own team attack in the meantime and fire at max power. For Justice!"

"FOR JUSTICE!" the three cried out in unison with Dyspo and took their positions in the sky. Kelerot began taking flight towards a few of the soldiers and destroyed them just as easily as the first with the Hakai technique, deflecting a few blaster bolts back at the soldiers which struck them either in the chest or in the head, one of them piercing through the neck. One by one the soldiers began dropping from the sky, some unfortunate enough to be erased, letting their blaster pistols fall from their hands before they disappeared.

Kunshi and Kettol appeared in a pincer setup, pinning Kelerot in between them. Kunshi charged up his energy and surrounded him with a network of energy fibers that jutted around him like a giant spiderweb, while Kettol fired several blue energy balls that weaved their way in between the energy fibers. Kelerot stopped to examine the surrounding energy and his eyes widened a bit when Cocotte's barrier formed itself around both him and the network of energy, trapping him within all three levels.

"We got you now, scumbag!" Kunshi shouted, chuckling a bit.

"You can't escape the elite brass of the Pride Troopers," Kettol said, echoing Kunshi's enthusiasm as Cocotte focused her energy on maintaining the barrier. Kelerot glared at her through the energy and she reacted a bit uncomfortably at his icy stare.

Kettol let out a cry as the energy barreled down on Kelerot inside the barrier, and Kunshi moved the network to converge on Kelerot, forcing him into a tighter confine.

The energy collided against him and exploded inside the barrier, rocking it heavily. Cocotte winced at the level of energy that forced itself within the barrier and she gasped, almost losing control. But she took a deep breath and put more energy into the barrier, increasing its strength.

"That should be enough to take him out," Kettol said to Kunshi.

"I know. This was the perfect set-up that he couldn't escape from," Kunshi reiterated.

"Will you two stop gloating and focus on making sure he's actually dead?" Cocotte piped in and felt a tremendous amount of pressure coming from inside the barrier as an intense wave of energy billowed out from the center, pushing against the inside of the barrier.

"Ugh, I can't…I can't hold this on for too long! He's way too strong!" she cried out in a panic.

"Captain, we'll help you out! Soldiers, lend her your energy to strengthen the barrier!" Dyspo commanded the remaining soldiers and they all flew towards the barrier, channeling their energy to syphon it into the barrier to strengthen it. Cocotte relaxed for a split second but felt a rebound of energy push back against the barrier, even stronger than before and cracks began to show itself on the energy's surface. She let out an audible gasp as the barrier shattered completely and Kelerot raised his hands up to his side. He spun around and swiped the air with his hands and an array of powerful energy explosions rocked the soldiers around him, causing them to scream out in terror before some were vaporized in the blast and others struck by waves of powerful energy as they tried to put up a defense, burned up by the impact before they too fell out of the sky. Dyspo and Kahseral used the distraction to gather together and began powering up to charge up their attacks simultaneously.

"Now!" Dyspo screamed and both he and Kahseral fired their Double Cannon Maximum blast in unison, the beams swirling and combining into one larger energy beam that soared directly at Kelerot, who glanced one moment too late to avoid it. He quickly raised his hand to smack it out of the way, redirecting it upward out of the atmosphere and he was caught off guard by Kahseral and Dyspo charging towards him, both with energy blades protruding from their hands like swords. He grimaced and blocked their initial attacks before going on the defensive as they both attacked him with super sonic speed, the three disappearing and reappearing all over the battlefield, blurring around everywhere as their blades clashed against Kelerot's hands and forearms, sometimes forcing him to kick them away as he defended himself against Dyspo's increased speed and Kahseral's strategic movements. He had a bit of difficulty at first due to the unexpected attack but as he grew adjusted to their fighting style during their attacks, his blocks became more precise as it gave him breathing room to start dodging them.

"We can keep this up until Jiren gets here, then you won't have anywhere to go but to hell, scumbag!" Dyspo screamed during his multiple slashes and thrusts with his energy blade while Kelerot blocked Kahseral's slower movements. He caught Dyspo's right wrist as he came down with a slash and used his leg to kick Kahseral hard in the gut as he was coming in from his flank, winding him heavily. Kelerot flipped backwards to avoid Dyspo's other arm and moved around behind Kahseral to roundhouse him down to the ground. Dyspo's fury escalated as he moved in on Kelerot and began picking up the pace, boosting his speed considerably. Both he and Kelerot vanished in a blur and flew around the planet, with Kelerot blocking Dyspo's myriad of blows as the long-eared Pride Trooper did anything he could to gain the upper hand but his face was wrought with frustration at the ineffectiveness of his attacks that were each blocked by Kelerot.

When the two circled the planet and returned to the battlefield along the outskirts of Netfiss city, Cocotte and Kunshi helped Kahseral back to his feet. His beret fell off his head after he had been knocked down to the earth below by Kelerot's kick and Kunshi handed it to him so he could place it neatly back on his head.

"General, please rest a moment and let us take up arms in your stead," Kunshi relayed to him but Kahseral shook his head.

"No Commander, I refuse to sit down while he's up there tearing us down. We'll strike back and strike hard with a United Justice Stream. Kettol, to us!" he shouted up and Kettol flew back down to land and salute Kahseral.

"General, have you sustained major damage?" Kettol asked, worried about the state Kahseral was in since he was favoring his abdomen with his hands. He gave him a quick nod and stared upward, adjusting his eye piece to focus on Kelerot's and Dyspo's movements, both moving around the air at super speed.

"General Kahseral, are you sure the Justice Stream will be powerful enough to take him out?" Kettol asked and all Kahseral could do was stare up at the scuffle. He didn't provide a response which worried Kettol a bit but the other three were all observing the fight, with the leftover soldiers, only less than a dozen remaining, watching on and waiting for an opening to get in a few shots at Kelerot.

"You. Will. Lose. This. Fight. I. Swear. It!" Dyspo screamed with each attack he was making, ensuring that each slash and stab with his energy blade was working its hardest to strike Kelerot. At the last one, Kelerot caught the blade in between his hands and he stared at him, eye to eye. Dyspo growled and grunted as he tried to free himself, letting the energy go out of disappointment. He clenched his fists and returned Kelerot's gaze with sheer contempt.

"You'll pay dearly for the lives you've taken this day and every day prior to this. Those innocent people you destroyed not that long ago, the prisoners who could've been reformed and returned to civilization to lead better lives. Their blood is on _your_ hands!" Dyspo cried, putting on a brave front. He was still quite shaken at the fact Kelerot destroyed that soldier but he didn't want his face to betray his composure.

"If you're referring to the innocent bystanders at Toppo's appreciation day, I do regret that. I tapped into a power I wasn't familiar with and lost control. I didn't want to involve anyone else in my objective to see you, Kahseral, and Toppo ground to dust beneath my feet."

"Tch, feigning remorse won't get you out of this one so easily, scumbag. There is only one way out of this now, and that will be your death, the only resolution our way of justice sees for you."

Kelerot's eyes narrowed. "Seems all of us here have chosen death as the absolute certainty. I'll see that I don't disappoint you then."

A slight grin appeared on Kelerot's face that rattled Dyspo even more and he could feel the air stir below him. The other Pride Troopers were gearing up for their Justice Stream and he did wear a smile for once.

"Oh I'm counting on it," Dyspo uttered, then he glanced over Kelerot's shoulder. "Ah! Lord Barbon, thank goodness you've arrived!"

Kelerot took the bait and turned around, surprised. Dyspo used this to rush him and nail him with a right hook to the face which caught him. He slammed him down hard to the ground and turned to the other Pride Troopers.

"DO IT!" he screamed and the four charged varying colored light spheres that shot out to join together and with that energy converging and swirling together, the Pride Troopers shifted into their dramatic poses, fists clenched.

"FOR JUSTICE! JUSTICE STREAM!" the four shouted in unison and the swirling colors coalesced into one large energy beam that fired directly up at Kelerot who was crashing down towards it.

Dyspo looked down excitedly as Kelerot and the energy beam collided, causing a giant explosion of light and energy that pulsated around the area, almost blowing away the lower grunt Pride Troopers who had to shield their faces from the incoming gusts of wind and energy that billowed outward. The Pride Troopers that were on the ground studied the explosion carefully, hopeful that it did its job and they'd eliminate their threat.

Dyspo cheered and pumped his fists in the air triumphantly. "Yeah! Way to go! Now that's how we do things on Netfiss! Glory to the Pride Troopers! Justice! Is! Served!"

He continued cheering as the smoke of the explosion billowed around the impact area. Kahseral breathed a sigh of relief for a moment and almost fell over backwards, landing on his rear as he forced himself to sit down. Kunshi and Kettol exchanged satisfied looks, nodding towards each other and Cocotte put her hands to her chest, sighing in relief as well with a content look on her face.

Kahseral had a peaceful look on his face for what seemed like an eternity, unsure whether he would ever have such a look, but that look faded away quickly when his ocular device blipped and his one eye went wide in horror as the scanner detected movement behind Cocotte. He gasped when he saw Kelerot appear behind her.

"Cocotte, BEHIND YOU!" he screamed but Kelerot was too fast for her to react properly. Seizing her head in his hands, he did one quick twist and broke her neck completely, turning her head almost a full 180. The look of horror remained on her face as she fell limp on the ground, eyes wide and glazed over, mouth agape. The remaining Pride Troopers watched the incident, unable to process what had happened until it was too late and Dyspo's face went from sheer terror to unbridled fury. He screamed as he darted straight for Kelerot and fired an energy blast aimed straight for him. Had Kelerot not been so fast, the blast would've surely connected before Kelerot could react, but he disappeared moments before the energy hit the ground, causing a crater to form where Kelerot once stood. The blast sent Cocotte's limp body flying away to another area and her body flopped around as it landed. Dyspo couldn't believe his eyes at how fast Kelerot moved. _How?! How the hell is he so strong and so fast?! HOW?!_

Kettol and Kunshi searched frantically for where Kelerot might reappear but Kettol was the next unfortunate victim as a hand pierced through his chest from his back, Kelerot having reappeared behind him to drive his hand through. He stared down at the protruding hand as blood trickled down out of his mouth and he reached up with his hands to grab Kelerot's arm.

Kelerot glared at Kunshi, who began weaving his energy network but stared wide-eyed in absolute fear at Kelerot's other outstretched hand, the dark purple aura of destruction surrounding him and his stare was like peering directly into the void itself. Kunshi was in fight or flight mode and immediately favored the latter, turning to fly up and away.

" _Hakai_ ," Kelerot uttered and destruction energy enveloped Kunshi from within, much like it was with the first soldier that had been "deleted". Kunshi screamed as his body twitched before it dissolved into those purple particles of energy, erasing him from the battlefield. Kelerot pulled his arm free from Kettol and the taller Pride Trooper collapsed to the ground as he stalked over calmly towards Kahseral. He raised his hand up towards the sky as he continued approaching him and fired precise energy blasts that were aimed at the remaining soldiers, the energy balls homing in on what was left of them. They flew away trying to escape them but one by one they were all engulfed in the incredible energy and were subsequently vaporized in the process. All that was left among the living Pride Troopers on the field were Dyspo and Kahseral, the former still making a bee line towards Kelerot, screaming in absolute rage.

Kahseral was on his knees, his face worn with defeat at the bodies laid out before him. Cocotte a little ways away, her head pointed in an unnatural direction staring blankly with dead eyes. Kettol staining the earth with his blood, seeping out profusely from his open hole left by this monster's hand, eyes staring at nothing in particular. The remaining soldiers that hadn't been vaporized all littered the field with their corpses. This wasn't a battle; this was a _massacre_.

Dyspo built up his aura and dark purple energy jutted out from around him. In his desperation, he moved into his super light speed mode and rushed Kelerot, who blocked a punch at the last split-second, surprised at how fast Dyspo had pushed himself. He expected a slight increase in the slim fighter's movements but not to this extent and he flew back to land beside Kettol. Dyspo clenched his hand tightly until the knuckles in his gloves were white. Tears of rage streamed down his face as his body shook, teeth gnawing and clenching together, he shot a look at Kahseral.

"On your feet, General," he said with as much composure as he could, his words cold and focused. Kahseral's eye widened and he shook his head. Glaring with renewed passion, he stood up beside Dyspo and he clenched his fists, charging up to raise his battle power as high as he could push it, Dyspo doing the same.

Kelerot closed his eyes, taking a deep breath through his nose before opening them up again.

"Come," he said quietly and Dyspo moved first, his body moving so fast that he melted into his own energy, blurring his body. Kelerot disappeared and re-emerged with Dyspo, their bodies moving so fast that to them, Kahseral was barely moving at all. The world around them shifted in their hyper speed movements, colors swirling around them and objects blurred to indistinguishable shapes. Their fists and kicks clashed together as they moved, with all that could be seen were several exploding waves of energy all around the atmosphere as Kahseral watched the two engage furiously.

He charged up an attack, his trusted Justice Bomber from his hand, sensing the movements of the two as he waited for the right moment to throw it at Kelerot, hoping he'd make a direct hit rather than hit Dyspo by accident. However, this proved to be highly problematic judging by how fast the two were fighting and despite the renewed sense of purpose from Dyspo's words, he was at a loss for what to do. _Just our luck that he would show up on the one time Jiren wasn't here. This battle would've been over a lot sooner and no one would've died needlessly._

He felt a great deal of despondency from watching the greatest force of the universe annihilated within minutes by one person. All it took was one individual to undo decades of hard work and dedication to enforcing justice throughout the cosmos. He sincerely hoped Lord Barbon didn't witness this on the off chance that he were to observe what was occurring on Netfiss and his hope dashed even more when the thought of how Jiren would take in all of this. A shiver ran through his body as he looked at his fallen comrades for a moment and nodded.

"Thank you for still putting your trust in us, Jiren. This one's for you," he said and took to the air, hand still charged up with his Justice Bomber. He wanted this one to count and put all of his power behind this attack as he flew straight towards the two. He hoped this would work out in his favor this time and expected Dyspo to be aware of his coming.

Dyspo was moving around, leaving afterimages in his wake to throw Kelerot off, but each time he'd move, Kelerot would sense where his energy was moving to where he'd stop next. He could detect a faint sense of energy elsewhere coming up towards him fast and sensed Kahseral making his way up. Facing the two at once might be problematic if he doesn't contain this quickly enough but Dyspo put in one more burst which doubled, then tripled his afterimages around Kelerot, finalizing it with a circular motion with his hand, which he moved to surround Kelerot with as he passed over him, launching it down as he blazed by him, not giving Kelerot enough time to dodge. Binding Kelerot's arms to his side, Dyspo flew out and turned around quickly to make his way back, shooting himself like a bullet to hit Kelerot in the back of the head. He stopped and then moved back the other direction, each time striking Kelerot on the way. He stopped and moved, stopped and moved, onward and forward with each strike hitting Kelerot in passing as the ring kept him from using his hands to block.

Kelerot grunted as he was being hit and he felt Kahseral approaching him fast, glaring up at Dyspo. He clenched his fists and screamed, shattering the ring of energy around him.

Kahseral thrust his hand forward and launched his Justice Bomber point blank at Kelerot. The Saiyan reacted by bringing his hand forward and channeling a great deal of energy to create a gravity well that absorbed Kahseral's attack like a vacuum and the general gasped in shock. He quickly turned to Dyspo as he was moving towards him for another bullet attack and Kelerot warped the gravity field around him with such intensity that it stopped Dyspo mid-flight and sent him down to the ground with a great deal of speed from the amount of gravity he was using to not only stop a blazing light speed Dyspo in his tracks, but to send him crashing down to the earth below. Kahseral gaped and was left speechless for a moment.

But that moment was short lived when he took a hard punch to the face that knocked a tooth out, blood spewing out of his mouth. Kelerot used his agility and power to start decimating Kahseral with punches to his face, chest, and back, culminating by grabbing his leg and flying down to slam him face first into the earth, embedding him through the soil with the amount of force he was using. He extended his hand and released the gravity field that trapped Dyspo, glancing down at Kahseral. He shot an energy blast that collided with the area he was in and an explosion of energy surrounded him, sending him flying up for a moment before his body crashed down, having flipped over so he could land on his back. He had enough power left to withstand the blast, but he knew he could no longer move his body and groaned as he tried to lift his hand but dropped it to his side.

Kelerot and Kahseral stared at one another for a moment and Kelerot knelt down on one knee.

"You fought valiantly, General Kahseral. For that, you have my respect," Kelerot told him but Kahseral couldn't return the courtesy, staring up at him with a neutral expression. He chuckled a bit after a moment and Kelerot closed his eyes, stifling a chuckle himself.

Dyspo managed to recover enough to bring himself back to his feet and his body looked a bit ragged from the impact. Breathing hard after expending a great deal of energy from his light speed mode, he burst into it again with a cry and shot another energy circle that caught Kelerot. Kelerot glared down at it and hissed at Dyspo before he was knocked away with a hard kick.

"BURN IN HELL! FINISH!" Dyspo screamed and the energy around Kelerot exploded. He collapsed to his hands and knees and breathed heavily, glancing at Kahseral.

"Do you think…we bought Jiren enough time?..."

"Don't say that. C'mon, get up," Dyspo said, offering his hand. Kahseral wanted to take it but he couldn't move an inch anymore, grunting as he tried in vain.

"Y'know what the worst part about all this is?"

"What?"

"I never once took Toppo's offer to go on a vacation to that resort planet. I heard there was a lot of beautiful women there," he laughed softly. Dyspo grinned, easing himself onto his knees.

"Hey General," Kahseral whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Can you fix up my beret for me? It's kinda loose on my head," he told him and Dyspo stifled a sob in his throat. He nodded.

"Sure thing, buddy," he tightened the beret on his head and took Kahseral's hand in between his hands, squeezing it.

"We'll rebuild the Pride Troopers, I promise you," Dyspo told him and Kahseral nodded weakly. A jolt hit Dyspo from behind him however and he couldn't even make an audible gasp. Kahseral watched as his friend dissolved in front of him in specks of purple energy, the hands that clutched his hand disappearing as well. Kelerot's face emerged in his field of vision after Dyspo was erased completely.

"No, he won't," Kelerot told him, staring down at him.

Kahseral couldn't help but laugh and cough at the same time. Maybe it was the hysterics behind it. Maybe dying wasn't as horrible as he always thought it was. He laughed, hoping that he would actually die rather than be erased from existence. That any solace he had left, he'd at least have that break for once in the otherworld. His hand dropped to his side as he continued laughing until his last breath left him and his one eye was staring up at the sky, ignoring Kelerot.

It was about another minute before a titanic aura of energy emerged from the upper atmosphere as Jiren flew into Netfiss. As he flew down, he frowned when he saw the field below and then gasped in shock. When he landed, his black eyes widened as he saw the bodies of several soldiers, Cocotte, Kettol, and Kahseral and he scanned the area to examine the bodies.

"Captain Cocotte…"

"Commander Kettol…"

"General Kahseral…"

When he hovered over Kahseral, he knelt down and observed his body more closely. Kahseral had a gentle, peaceful look on his face, which was a stark contrast to the looks of horror upon the faces of the other dead Troopers. He moved his hand and closed Kahseral's eye, sliding the eyelid over his one eye and resting his hand on Kahseral's chest, closing his eyes. It wasn't the first time Jiren had seen a massacre, as his anger gradually boiled up within him. The bodies of those he knew, those he served with, all archons of justice, all very proud of it, now gone. He searched the area but could find no trace of Dyspo or Kunshi. He caught signs of debris from a wrecked ship and deduced that was the wreckage of the _Gauntlet_ , their prized battle cruiser that Zoiray kept bragging about. He felt no signs of Zoiray's energy either and assumed that his body was among the wreckage. His heart raced as he tried again to sense Dyspo and Kunshi but could only clench his teeth and his fists, scanning the area around him. His eyes turned to the city off in the distance and he could see several figures migrating to his location. The citizens of Netfiss, under direct orders to remain indoors during their search for the fugitive, now were emerging, unable to avoid their curious nature and see what had happened for themselves. Jiren walked over to the crowd that was starting to emerge and he could see their pale faces as they began taking in the scene before them.

"Jiren? Is this real? Are they all…?"

Jiren stared at them in silence.

The man who spoke staggered forward, his fear making his legs quiver like jelly and he collapsed on his knees when he saw the bodies more closely. The others who were right behind him all came forward as well and several couldn't hide their emotions anymore, weeping and sobbing openly.

"They're dead…every single one of them…oh God…" the man said, holding his head and clutching his hair.

"It's not safe here. You should return to the city," Jiren said calmly as he stared out at the crowd who were starting to gather around Kahseral. General Kahseral was a favorite among a lot of the citizens of Netfiss, one of the women who's cat he once saved from a tree collapsed on top of him and shrieked, burying her face in his chest. The woman's husband wrapped his hands around her to comfort her and whispered to her that they should heed Jiren's advice and make their way back to the city. Several of the citizens took the bodies of the Troopers that were still there and brought them with them into the city, leaving Jiren standing alone to watch and ensure that they did make their way back. When he was certain they were out of danger, he turned around to see Kelerot standing where Cocotte's body was and glared at him.

"If you're looking for Dyspo and Kunshi, they've been destroyed. I'm sure you know what I mean when I say that, right?"

Jiren's eyes narrowed. Destruction energy: the power of a God used to erase fellow Pride Troopers, namely Dyspo.

Jiren had taken a liking to Dyspo after the Tournament of Power and was eager to help him out more when he was engaged in off-world missions. He felt a great deal more pride in his associates this time and put a lot of his newfound trust and respect in them. He wasn't sure what he was feeling now: fear, disgust, or heartbreak? Seeing so few bodies meant that a lot of soldiers were either vaporized or destroyed by the man standing before him with a surprisingly calm expression on his face.

"They all fought bravely and their deaths were not wasted. I expected nothing less from the Pride Troopers," Kelerot said.

"There is no honor in any of this," Jiren began. "You should not have had this level of strength in the first place. How did you come by the power of a Destroyer?"

"Why should you care?" Kelerot asked. "Strength is strength, regardless of how you obtain or use it. Isn't that your _raison d'etre_?"

"I earned this strength through hard work, training, and dedication to absolute justice. You've used your strength to oppress the weak and subject them to terror. You've taken countless lives with no regard for their well-being nor felt remorse for your actions. I cannot and _will not_ let this go unpunished."

Kelerot began to circle Jiren, walking casually around him. "If you knew the hell I've lived, you would've seen my point of view more clearly rather than cling to that black-and-white concept of justice you and the Pride Troopers hold onto so dearly. You have no idea how much I've grown to _loathe_ that narrow-minded outlook," Kelerot spat, feeling the venom of those words leave a rancid taste in his mouth.

"It ensures the people of this universe can live a safe and secure life from criminals such as yourself," Jiren said and Kelerot barked a laugh.

" _Safe_ and _secure_?! Putting a planet full of cities on lockdown to hunt one criminal is hardly what I call 'safe and secure'. That ideology makes them just as much a prisoner as I was when Kutlerie imposed his will on us. Do you want to know what kind of person Kutlerie was? The man Toppo considered a childhood friend? If you want to know who the real monster was, look no further than the warden of that prison you people sent me to. A man who let his power corrupt his sense of judgment that gave him the cute idea of allowing the inmates to hold little brawls for their guards amusement. A brawl where if I died, the guard who placed their wager would win the whole pot. If only Toppo knew what he had sent to live with the prisoners, Kutlerie wouldn't have bothered with his little game in the first place."

"Keeping criminals such as yourself away from civilized societies is the pinnacle of our system of justice, a system we've enforced for decades!" Jiren roared and clenched his fists. Kelerot paused, staring at him. He looked beyond Jiren to the city and frowned.

"So that's it then, isn't it? Make sure you obey the rules, _your_ rules, otherwise you rot in prison for the rest of your life. You're just going from one form of oppression to another without any concept of freedom. That makes it all the more obvious why Toppo has to be destroyed, no, _needs_ to be destroyed. His ideal vision of this universe is one where he enforces the kind of justice that is negligent on the freedom its sworn to protect. You're better off not being a part of that vision."

Jiren shook his head. "You delude yourself into thinking that our justice is corrupted. Justice punishes evildoers and ensures that the righteous shall triumph."

"If that's the case, you'll have to break your one rule to enforce it," Kelerot smiled, hinting at Jiren's own sense of justice. It was something he learned through delving Toppo and the other Pride Troopers he fought earlier. They all had memories of fighting with Jiren and the same rule continued to be used whenever Jiren was involved: his outright refusal to kill. He took one more look at Netfiss city and then to the sky.

"Let's fight somewhere that won't put those people in danger. I can at least grant you that courtesy," Kelerot suggested and Jiren glanced back behind him. He stared at the city with a sombre look, a bit saddened that he never got to spend that much time with the citizens his friends have been so fond of. He could picture Dyspo and Kahseral exiting their favorite coffee shop and Dyspo's impatience as he took that first sip, burning his tongue. He smiled as he remembered that memory. The only time he did spend considerably in Netfiss was during Kahseral's birthday when the General was given an upgrade to his cybernetics from Cocotte and Kunshi. Jiren felt a bit of embarrassment when he couldn't find a suitable gift to give him but Dyspo would tell him that "your presence here is good enough for us, my friend."

He saw them through his memories: all smiles, all enjoying their work as they brought in criminals to put them away in the galactic prison. When the reality of seeing some of them dead on the field a moment ago when he arrived started hitting him even more, he couldn't help but stare with contempt at the man who committed this atrocity. For a moment he wanted to believe that this was the same man who killed his family and his master but no, that was a long time ago and this was a new demon he had to take down. He took one last glance at the city before nodding at Kelerot.

"Agreed."

"I'll choose the location and wait for you there. You'll know where I'll teleport to," Kelerot said and gulped. _Why the hell am I doing this? I could've easily left this place and searched for Toppo, wherever he is. That's another thing. I can't sense him or Cae anywhere._

Kelerot had been searching for Barbon's energy since he arrived on Netfiss, using the battle to stretch out his senses and see if he could locate them. Had he been able to find them, he would've teleported away and left the Pride Troopers alone, coming back to finish off Dyspo and Kahseral after he dealt with Barbon. Yet nothing was coming up and that bothered him more than it should've.

What was also apparent was his reluctance to leave. He had used up a bit of energy fighting these Pride Troopers, even though a majority of their attacks did little damage to him. It did leave him at a small disadvantage against Jiren and he wondered if his power was going to be enough. Having the power of a Destroyer is irrelevant when facing a mortal who not even _a_ Destroyer could best in combat. He began thinking on it some more and grinned a bit.

 _Maybe meeting those Saiyans from the Seventh Universe had some effect on me. Maybe meeting Son Goku rubbed off on me, leaving me this desire to test my strength against someone like Jiren. I know I can easily leave this place and let him stew in this chaos, but I'm now more curious than ever to see whether I can actually topple the mightiest warrior in the multiverse._

He felt something grow in him that he hadn't expected before. Something that was making his heart race, and his body feel flush. He felt a tingly sensation which made the hairs on his body stand and the energy of the area shifted around and inside him. He thought he was feeling genuine fear but this wasn't it. He felt a rush in his body the more he stared at Jiren and he couldn't help but smile.

Then it clicked.

 _He felt excitement._


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 – "An escalation to battle across two universes."**

 **Moments earlier…**

Barbon and Cae returned to the Destroyer's planet after they recently completed their project renovating a planetary system. Marcarita was standing by, staff in hand and greeted them with a smile and a short bow. Cae seemed to notice that her smile was rather forced and his eyebrows slightly went up.

"Welcome back, Lord Barbon and Cae," she said, bowing at them.

"Thank you, Marcarita," Cae bowed back and Barbon nodded his head down with his eyes closed.

"I have gifts for the both of you," she reached over with the tip of her staff and conjured two necklaces that hung around their necks. The jewel attached to a golden chain was a small crystal, beautifully crafted and reflected a small prism when the right angle of light shone through it. Barbon eyed it curiously between his thumb and forefinger.

"What are these?" asked Cae.

"For your protection," she went straight to the point and Barbon frowned through his thick mustache.

"Protection from what?"

"Our 'problematic' mortal has come back to our universe after a few days absence," she informed them and both Cae and Barbon exchanged looks.

"The Gardenian. Where is he currently?" Cae asked.

Marcarita projected a sphere that displayed Netfiss and Barbon's eyes widened a bit when he saw Kelerot appear, aiming a sphere of destruction energy at the city.

"To think he's mastered the ability to control destruction energy so quickly," he said, glaring at the sphere.

"A practitioner of Kinetic Delving can master a new technique in a short amount of time the more adept they are at Delving, my Lord."

Barbon extended his hand out to Cae.

"Take me there. I will end this quickly," he told them and Cae frowned, glancing at Marcarita. The two did not say anything but they knew what Barbon was implying.

"Why do you hesitate?"

"Your oath as Destroyer, unless you've forgotten?" Marcarita noted and Barbon stared at her.

"I'm aware of the oaths and knowing that this mortal is using the power of the gods makes him a credible threat to this universe that must be dealt with. Should that not warrant my involvement?"

"It's too dangerous for us to move separately now due to his knowledge of not only your abilities but mine as well. Given the opportunity, he could seek me out while you're away and kill me to destroy you, or vice versa if he was truly desperate for revenge." Cae had a hand to his chin, pondering this circumstance and Barbon wasn't sure if Cae was humoring him or not and he sighed, sitting down on a chair in front of his personal study. He poured himself a glass of his favorite drink, placing two ice cubes from the metal bucket behind the bottle in his glass and swirled the liquid inside. He downed his drink and leaned forward; elbows placed on the arm rests so that his hands brushed lightly against his mustache.

"My Lord, the Pride Troopers are engaging Kelerot," Marcarita said and Barbon stared at the sphere's display.

"Then all we can do is watch?" he asked, glancing up at her. She expanded the sphere to double its size and Barbon sat back, watching the fight progress.

Barbon's sworn duty as a God of Destruction came with the sacrifice of his mortal duties when he was once Toppo, leader of the Pride Troopers. He had spent the better part of a decade fulfilling those duties as a Destroyer without question. The sworn oath of a Destroyer meant that he would have to forgo his attachment to the mortal world, foregoing all association with the Pride Troopers and left all matters to them from the day he ascended to relinquish Belmod of his position. This was a core part of his training and it was the most difficult part to accomplish, knowing how strong a friendship he had built with these warriors over his lifetime.

Destroying planets for Cae to create new ones meant that he had to abandon his emotional attachment, a task Marcarita said would become easier as more time passed by. Gods would observe the development of civilizations and planets and decide when it was the appropriate time to destroy and rebuild to either maintain or improve the universe's mortal rating.

The fight before Barbon's eyes ended within minutes. His stomach wrenched in knots when he saw the first unfortunate victim of Kelerot's destruction energy, and it sank even more at each subsequent death. He watched the _Gauntlet_ fall in pieces from the sky, Zoiray no doubt inside when it blew, Cocotte's neck snapped, Kettol stabbed through the back with a hand, Kahseral physically beaten to death, and both Kunshi and Dyspo erased from existence, destroyed before his eyes. Cae closed his eyes, breathing a sigh. It hurt seeing those he watched fight proudly in the Tournament of Power die one by one and he studied Barbon to see how he would react. Barbon eased back into his chair and looked like he was sinking into it completely. He stroked his mustache for a moment and noticed that both Cae and Marcarita were staring at him and he shook his head, sitting up straight.

"We cannot allow ourselves to grieve, that would dishonor the legacy of the Pride Troopers," he said, standing up. "All I can take from this is that I am the only objective in Kelerot's mind. He is more interested in finding me than drawing me out. I will leave the mourning of their loss to the fine citizens of Netfiss city. Word will eventually reach the remaining civilized planets of the Pride Troopers valiant effort to contain this new threat and that their deaths will not be in vain."

"There is still Jiren, my Lord," Cae told him and Barbon nodded. Seeing him appear on the sphere and observing the citizens carry what bodies were still on the field, Barbon watched him stare down Kelerot and a small grin appeared on his face.

"The people are all counting on you now, Jiren," Barbon said and after their conversation ended, Kelerot disappeared. Jiren took to the skies and flew out of the planet's atmosphere.

"We must use this time to relocate you to Lord Beerus's planet," Marcarita told them and their eyes shot up.

"What?" Cae was the first to answer. He expected many things from the angel but this was the first time she had ever said something that threw him for a loop.

"What do you mean by relocating?" Barbon asked. "and why Lord Beerus's planet of all places?" Cae added.

"This request is coming directly from the Grand Minister," Marcarita said, frowning a bit. Even she thought the request was odd and generally had her reservations with regards to certain siblings of hers. She never had much to like about the lower rated universes yet was never really vocal about it, even though the other angels were well aware of her feelings about them. She has been more at odds with Whis with regards to his discovery of Earth's delicacies and chided him for never bringing some of those pastries to her universe, especially this concoction he described called Chocolate mousse. She felt too proud to admit her obsession with chocolate and had to sneak some by Belmod so he would not partake in them. Barbon did not care one way or another whether she brought desserts for they held little interest to him. Their unique partnership had a few obstacles to overcome, mainly differing interests; but theirs was strictly an equal master/student relationship on top of Destroyer/angel attendant. She used any opportunity to travel abroad, retrieving new books for Barbon to read if it meant she could acquire chocolate but hated that she never found the time needed to travel to the Seventh Universe to try what Whis described as "the most heavenly chocolate desserts you'll ever taste".

"This must be serious if the Grand Minister himself is requesting this," Cae said and Marcarita nodded.

"He spoke briefly with Awamo and was advised based on a discovery he made in the Network of Fates that the two of you are to stay at Lord Beerus's planet. He spoke of the Saiyans, stating that the one called Vegeta will play an important role in the near future. He wants the two of you there to lure Kelerot so that he and Vegeta will fight." Cae opened his mouth to protest but was shut out with a hand from Marcarita. "Don't ask why this is, I haven't a clue myself. All he said was to 'trust the Network.'"

"But that could only mean…"

"That Jiren will fail to defeat him," Barbon said, frowning down at Marcarita.

"We don't know that for sure yet," she said. She still echoed a bit of Belmod's confidence in Jiren's strength. "Follow the Grand Minister's advice for now and stay with Lord Beerus until then."

She added in a flat yet ominous tone: "The Network of Fates is absolute in its assessment of all life forms: mortal, deity, even the Omni Kings themselves. Not a single entity is above the Network. Whether Jiren defeats Kelerot in battle or he dies; if the Network determines that Vegeta is the one to defeat Kelerot, then Fate will find a way to make sure that it happens exactly as it has been laid out."

"I've never been one to put anything up to Fate, Lady Marcarita," Barbon said, sounding more like the Toppo of old. She anticipated an additional comment about true justice prevailing but Barbon hadn't said a single word afterwards. He put his hand on Cae's shoulder and nodded down at him.

"He might search this planet next if he can't find us so be vigilant," Cae told Marcarita and she waved him off.

"I've warded off the planet so he couldn't sense where you were. The pendant shields you from all universes being able to sense you. My siblings are aware of the jewels around your neck and would assume that I gave you those in the event they could no longer sense your location and figured you to be dead."

"Understood. May this be over shortly. _Kai-kai,_ " Cae said and both he and Barbon teleported away.

 **A communication…**

Returning to their ship, Glacial opened up a communication channel. There was a figure who appeared on the screen, shadowed by the low light with only the light of the screen on their end illuminating their lower half.

"Hello Glacial, you have a report for me?" said a woman's voice on the other end.

"Retrieval of the Dragonballs is proceeding as scheduled," Glacial informed the person on the other end and she smiled.

"Good to know. Continue with your mission until you've gathered all of them and destroy them as per Lord Freeza's request."

"Understood. You should also be pleased to know that we have initiated 'Project Nion'," Glacial said and she could see the smile appear on the other woman's face when she heard that.

"Ah, splendid. Nion would have been overjoyed to hear that. What have been the results so far?"

"After the first human was injected, energy corruption occurred within three hours until he submitted completely. I injected his friend and he submitted within minutes. It would seem to be more effective on the weaker life-forms of this planet.

"They can then proceed to transfer the corrupted energy onto the other lifeforms of this planet and multiply the energy virus considerably. I sent the small-fry to begin infecting the first civilized town he finds while the other will proceed to infect Son Goku's friends and family. We expect the entire population to submit to us within a week."

"That is wonderful news, Glacial. What of your brother?" she asked.

"Tundra is assessing Goku's entourage carefully. I expect he will be joined by the first infected human shortly and will proceed to engage with the rest of the mortals associated with the Saiyan. We've been monitoring a woman with blue hair who has a device able to locate the Dragonballs. We'll observe her closely to be sure she obtains all of them before we take them from her. Whether we destroy her afterwards or make use of her with the virus will be a decision made later but rest assured Uncle Freeza's orders will be carried out without fail."

"Goku will be a problem though, we mustn't allow him to intervene with Project Nion. I do however have the prefect solution to draw him away from his loved ones," the woman said on the other end.

"What do you suggest?" Glacial asked. Her tone throughout this conversation was straightforward, her mode of speech more linear and factual than her other tone. She was an android providing a report and the woman on the other end expected this.

"We have touched down on Planet Namek and are in search of their Dragonballs. We should have all of them shortly. Lord Freeza expects Goku to come, unable to resist the opportunity to help these Namekians. Whether he comes alone or with others is irrelevant, so long as Lord Freeza has him in his sights. See to it that he does, Glacial."

"Understood, Lady Berryblue," Glacial said and switched the communicator off. A devious grin appeared on her face and she took to the air to get Tundra's location before flying to him.

 **A fight to protect the Dragonballs…**

When Goku's group appeared on the secluded island refuge, Pan lost her footing and continued moving forward until she went face first into a tree's trunk. Bulla gasped and ran over to her.

"Oww," Pan said, rubbing her nose. She fought back a couple of tears from the pain and sniffed to make sure she hadn't broken anything. She stood up and dusted off her dress. She wasn't expecting stares from Goku and Gohan however when they saw her.

"Pan, what's gotten into you?" Gohan asked. He wasn't completely angry but she could tell he was both upset and concerned by the tone of his voice.

"I decided to come with you all," she simply said and Gohan frowned, removing his glasses to put them away in its case. "And Uncle Piccolo's in danger," she added.

"I know Piccolo's in danger. But because you left so abruptly, you put your mother in even greater danger," Gohan said and Pan gulped but steeled her gaze at him regardless.

"Mama's fine with Broly and his family, isn't she? That big guy and his kids will take care of her, even though one of them's a huge stupid brat," she said, her tone going cold when she thought of Choi. _I hope Uub wipes the floor with you._

"You did a very reckless thing, Pan," Goku started, staring down at her. He wasn't too thrilled to see her and she looked up at him, worried. "I was in the middle of teleporting and having you jump in like that is an extremely dangerous thing to do. I don't know for sure whether all of you was going to teleport with us or not. It could've just been the top half of ya when we appeared on here and you wouldn't know it until you saw that you were missing your legs."

"What?!" Pan cried out and she immediately felt her legs to see that they were still there and she went pale in the face. "Th-that could actually happen?"

Gohan nodded. "Possibly. Factoring in the speed at which instantaneous movement occurs with the velocity of your own movement, I'd say you had a less than five percent chance of remaining intact when you grabbed onto Bulla to teleport with us."

"Oh god…" Pan said, sinking to her knees. Bulla cleared her throat and stared at him.

"Anyway," she said, getting their attention. "My mom's still in danger and I'd like to know how close she is so we can save her from this android threat. We can worry about the science another time." _Even though that does sound like something I wouldn't mind studying after this is over._

Goku searched around him on the island and spotted Goten and Trunks waving at them as they ran towards them.

"Dad! Big Brother!" Goten shouted and the two stopped. Trunks glanced down at Bulla.

"What're you guys doing here? Why are you here, Bulla?" Trunks emphasized his second question a bit more and Bulla frowned up at him.

"Mom's in trouble, okay? That's why I'm tagging along," she was straight to the point and Trunks's eyes widened a bit.

"She should be arriving here shortly. I gave her the coordinates after we found the Dragonball. Here," Trunks told Goku, pulling out the crystal ball from his front pocket. He wore a sleeveless pocketed vest over his white shirt while Goten was still dressed in full ranger garb. Bulla took the ball and studied it.

"Wow, I've never seen one of these up close before. Usually I'd only be able to stare at them behind a heavily guarded security grid at home," she said and could see her reflection on the surface. She smiled and admired her face for a moment before adding: "crap, I think I overdid it on the blush a bit."

All eyes then turned to the sky for a moment and Goku frowned.

"Dad."

"Yeah, I sense it too. Two evil energies coming this way."

"Two?" Pan asked and Goku closed his eyes, pointing towards the southwest of their location.

"Two on their way here, with a third going in a different direction. That doesn't make any sense," Goku said and Pan's face grew more worried.

"I can see Bulma coming in," Goten said, watching the skies behind them and they all turned to him. Bulma's craft landed casually on the island's open grassy area and Goten frowned when he could hear several of the wild endangered animals scurry off in fear. _I hope 17 didn't see that, he'd scold me for sure._

Bulma disembarked from her ship and waited as Pilaf, Shu, and their large companion Bao exit the ship before she put it back in its capsule. She had a backpack which she unzipped in front of her.

"Hey everyone, I wasn't expecting so many of you to show up," she said and Bulla walked over to put the ball in with the other four and she grinned deeply at how shiny they were, reflected off the sunlight before Bulma zipped the bag closed.

"Mom, it's not safe for you here, we need to get back home immediately," Bulla told her, a resolute and steady expression on her face.

"She's right. Let me take you to Capsule Corps, I can get you there in an instant," Goku said, walking over to her.

"I'll be taking those Dragonballs from you now!" came a voice from above them and they stopped, staring around them.

"That voice!"

"Freeza?!" Gohan shouted and Goku shook his head.

"No, it's not Freeza. I can't sense anything, which means-"

"Up there!" Pan was the first to spot the android and he fired an energy blast down at the ground, aimed at Bulma. Bulla quickly grabbed her and threw herself holding her out of the way of the blast, which hit the earth and exploded creating a divot in the soil. Debris and rocks flew all around it as Goku and Gohan flew up to meet the android in the air. Goku got a good look at him now and wasn't sure what to make of him. He had the same physical features as Freeza yet his skin tone and exoskeletal plating were completely different. His eyes looked opaquer and dark grey in color with strange red and yellow lines that looked like wires embedded in his cranium starting from where his eyebrows would be. Similar red lines ran down along his chest and arms, connecting those strange purple jewels he was used to seeing on Freeza's body and that familiar white tail that occasionally swished in the breeze. The android smiled at the two who stared at him.

"Why are you after the Dragonballs?" Goku shouted.

"I'm under orders to retrieve them. That's all you need to know. Now hand them over."

"Pan! Bulla! Grab Bulma and the others and get out of here quickly while we handle this!" Goku shouted down at the girls.

"Right, let's get going!" Bulla shouted to Pan, tossing her the backpack and she slipped it over her shoulders. Bulla turned to the other three who were with Bulma and Pilaf looked the more freaked out of them, staring up at the android.

"You guys go and hide somewhere so you won't get hurt. Hurry!" she shouted and lifted Bulma into her arms. Bulma wrapped her arms around her daughter and gulped as Bulla took to the air. "I'm gonna go as fast as possible so brace yourself, mom."

"Hey! Why does she get a ride and not us! I don't want to be on this island with Goku fighting that thing!" Pilaf whined and was surprised to see both Shu and Bao already making a beeline to the thicket of trees behind them.

"Would someone explain to me what the heck's going on around here?!" he said and growled as he ran off after the others to hide in the thicket as well.

Pan took to the air to follow Bulla and the android fired a few energy blasts in their direction before giving them chase. Gohan deflected the energy blasts away while Goku went in for a few punches that the android blocked.

"Hurry up and get as far away as you can!" Gohan shouted at them and Bulla nodded. She powered up into her Super Saiyan form and propelled herself with a quick burst of energy, forcing Bulma to hold on tightly. Pan complied as well with her own burst of energy and followed Bulla right behind.

Goten and Trunks took to the air to surround the android and Gohan rushed back to join up. Seeing himself outnumbered, the android's grin didn't relent.

"I've been provided sufficient data on all of you from Father," the android said and glanced over to the girls escaping his sight with the bag that has the Dragonballs.

"That wouldn't surprise me," Gohan said. "It's not the first time we've had to face an android threat."

"That has also been taken into consideration. You have two of your own androids named 17 and 18. You are Son Gohan, brother of Son Goten, son of Son Goku, and friend of Trunks, son of Vegeta. It doesn't surprise me to see how often Saiyans gather together like this for a fight, it's in your very nature according to my programming."

"Since you know so much about us, why not tell us who you are and what you've done with Tien," Goku added and the android grinned. He didn't pay attention to any of them specifically but he was still in a position to defend himself.

"I am called Tundra. My sister Glacial is on her way here as we speak, and the two of us should be powerful enough to destroy you," Tundra said and both Goten and Trunks shot him a look.

"Let's see how big that statement is in a few minutes," Goten smiled and powered up, Trunks doing the same. He was still a bit reluctant in joining in but knew what was more important and put his objections to the back of his mind, racing with conflicting thoughts related to the Tournament the other day and his renewed relationship with Mai. Their white auras were flaring around them as they glanced back from Goku to Tundra.

"Father, Trunks and I can take this guy down, you should go help Pan and Bulla to make sure this guy and whoever this Glacial is doesn't get the Dragonballs," Goten told him and Goku grinned.

"Thanks, but I've been itching for a proper fight for a while now and I don't wanna feel like I've gone rusty after all these years," he boasted and Tundra chuckled a bit.

 _Why is he still confident if he's surrounded? Is he that sure of his power compared to ours?_ Gohan studied him a bit more closely and felt annoyed that he couldn't sense his energy. Not being able to track your opponent with enhanced energy sensing gave them an advantage and you hoped that your own training and strength could handle what they threw at you.

"Then allow me the privilege of giving you your proper fight, Son Goku!" Tundra shouted and he raised his hands in the air and thrust them forward at the four of them. The area around them suddenly became distorted as waves of intense invisible energy thrust down upon them from Tundra, the level of noise accompanying the attack caused them to cover their ears as the pressure bore down on them. Goku started powering through it, transforming into his Super Saiyan form and he flew out of the range of the attack. Gohan did the same, followed by Goten and Trunks, yet Tundra was aware of their movements and went on the offensive against the last two to escape his attack, firing energy blasts at the two. They were still disoriented, holding their heads a bit and struggled to deflect the energy blasts. Tundra flew in and caught Trunks in the mid-section with a kick, spinning around while his foot was still planted in Trunks's gut to roundhouse Goten in the face.

Gohan and Goku flanked Tundra and fared a little better after the initial attack, which forced the android to return their assault with another blast of his strange attack.

"What kind of technique is this?" Gohan shouted as he tried to gain some distance and Goku flew up near him.

"He's using it to keep us from a full-frontal assault so he can pick us apart one by one," Goku surmised and the two suddenly looked to the side.

"Dad, that energy-!"

"Yeah, I feel it too," Goku said and Gohan nodded, taking off. He could sense where this energy was going and had to make a quick decision. The energy was headed towards the girls.

As the fight between Tundra and the four started, Bulla and Pan were flying as quickly as they could back to Capsule Corporation.

"I gotta get in touch with home so they can get 16 ready to join us. When we drop you off we're going back to tackle that freaky android," Bulla said and Bulma gave her a look.

"Are you serious?!"

"Mom, you'll be safe back home. I gotta make sure that thing doesn't get anywhere near you and the more of us to defeat him, the better," Bulla said and Bulma sighed.

"You wouldn't know since you've never met Freeza but seeing that guy look just like him is really freaky. Why would Freeza build something like that and why send him here to get the Dragonballs when he could've come himself? None of this is making any sense!"

"I don't care if he looks like Lord Beerus, I'm not letting him anywhere near you or the Dragonballs," Bulla said and Pan nodded.

"We'll make sure you get home safe, Miss Bulma! You can count on us to-AGH!" Pan was hit from behind by a stray energy blast, powerful enough to knock her out of the air. The backpack was smoking and engulfed in flames and Pan flailed her arms to regain her mobility and patted the backpack to put out the flames. Bulla stopped and spun back around to see what had happened.

"Pan! Are you alright!"

"What do you think?! What the heck just hit me?" Pan cried out and the girls searched the area, sensing surrounding energies and spotted two coming within sight. The source of the one who attacked Pan appeared first and Pan's face lit up.

"Uncle Piccolo! Unf, damn fire, go out already!" Pan shouted as she continued trying to douse the flame and Bulla stared at him for a moment, her eyes narrowing a bit. But she quickly noticed a few shining objects falling out of the bag from a hole the fire had burned and let out a cry.

"Pan! The Dragonballs are falling out of the bag!" she shouted and Pan slid the backpack off her shoulders and finally put out the fire. Three of the Dragonballs were able to slip out and she held onto the bag flying down to get them before they landed in the ocean below. As soon as she was close to one of them a hand grabbed her by the ankle and Bulla grunted, forced to watch.

"Damn, I can't let you go but I have to help Pan," Bulla muttered, loud enough for Bulma to hear her and her mother nodded.

"Drop me, I can land in the water safely," Bulma whispered to her and Bulla's eyes widened.

"What?"  
"Let me go, and I'll get the Dragonballs that fell. I have capsules to get me back. Something's off about Piccolo's face," Bulma said, nodding over to Piccolo and Bulla gritted her teeth, closing her eyes.

"Just do it!" Bulma shouted and Bulla groaned.

"I'm sorry, mom!" Bulla shouted and let Bulma fall to the ocean. She quickly fished out a capsule from her pocket and activated it, making a small one-person aircraft appear. She adjusted herself to nosedive quickly to grab it and she opened the hatch to climb in. She knew this doubled as a submarine and activated her radar to locate where the Dragonballs had fell, letting her daughter and Pan focus on Piccolo.

Bulla flew over to help Pan but Piccolo fired a few energy blasts at her to keep her away and she dodged them. He had his arm extended to grab Pan as she fell and he began retracting it to pull her back up. Pan frantically tried one last time to grab the Dragonball but as she did, more fell out of the bag until there was only one still left inside and she clutched it tightly against her with one hand, using the other to fire an energy blast back up at Piccolo.

"What's gotten into you, Uncle Piccolo?!" she shouted and fired another energy blast. All she could see of his face was a deadpan smile and eyes that had weird red lines on them, a near expressionless face that made it look like he was running on auto-pilot and she felt a bit of anxiety rise up from the look he was giving her. She tried to grab his wrist to force him to let her go but his grip was vice-like and he wasn't letting her go.

She began charging up energy to hit him with a strong attack but she felt her anxiety diminish when she sensed her father coming into view. Gohan used the force from his hand to slice Piccolo's arm clean off and he positioned himself in between Pan and Piccolo, glaring up at him.

"Dad!" Pan shouted, grabbing the severed arm to detach it from her ankle. She tossed it in the ocean.

"I got here as fast as I could when I sensed Piccolo and Tien making a move towards you," Gohan said and Pan was able to get her composure in order to look at Piccolo with a worried glance.

"Dad, what's wrong with Uncle Piccolo? What happened to him? Uncle! Get a hold of yourself! Why are you attacking us?!"

"Go to Bulma and get the Dragonballs back," Gohan told her and Pan's face protested but he gave her a stern glance. It was then that Tien showed up as well and his hands were brought up to his face. He was still smiling and his eyes looked a bit more crazed than Piccolo's but Gohan recognized the hand placement in front of him.

"Crap! Bulla! Pan! Get out of here, NOW!" Gohan shouted and gasped when he saw Piccolo put two fingers to his face and charge up energy at the tips of his fingers. He noticed something about him that threw him off a moment.

 _Piccolo would normally regenerate his arm right away when he loses it yet he's ignoring the blood loss from the severed arm._

He found it very worrisome that Tien was using his strongest attack that was sapping his life force every time he used it but the look on his face betrayed his body. Gohan saw a fighter with no regard for his own life and he built up his own energy to defend himself against both their attacks.

Bulla rushed down with Pan to help Bulma and Pan grumbled out of frustration.

"None of this is making any sense right now!" she shouted.

"I know, but let's focus on helping mom. I can use my radar to help speed up the recovery of the Dragonballs that fell into the water," she brought up her wrist communicator and activated the hologram of the Dragonball locator and narrowed it down to her current position using the GPS on the device. It showed the blips below them and saw that Bulma's aircraft was making its way to those blips as well.

Gohan was prepared for the dual attacks but he noticed that when Piccolo was firing his Special Beam Cannon, he aimed it below him and his eyes widened in horror.

"The girls!" he cried and gasped just as fast when Tien fired his Kikoho blast at the same time as Piccolo. _No, I won't make it in time! Damn it all!_

He took the full blast of the Kikoho and managed to defend himself with his own power, but it bought enough time for the Special beam cannon to shoot down towards the girls.

Bulla and Pan were about to reach Bulma when Bulla glanced behind her one moment too late and took the beam attack head on to the side of her face. The beam continued down towards Bulma's ship and pierced a hole through the hull's bottom.

"BULLA!" Pan screamed and she rushed to catch Bulla before she fell down. The beam had been strong enough to knock her out and her fair fell out of her Super Saiyan state to her normal aquatic color.

Bulma lost control of her aircraft as it was spinning wildly and she was screaming as it was careening straight towards the ocean. She pressed the eject button and the latch popped off, her seat rocketing her out of the aircraft before it spun some more and exploded. She was still spinning from the momentum and Pan flew down, powering herself up to grab the seat to stop her from spinning around and Bulma held her head, almost throwing up from her dizziness. She had to let go of the backpack, the last Dragonball falling to the ocean below so her hands could be free to grab them both.

"I got ya," Pan said, holding onto the two of them and stared back up. Her anxiety came back as she was sensing the battle above her and Bulma regained her senses to check on Bulla, touching the side of her face. There was a significant cut on the side of her face where the beam struck her and her hand came back with blood on it.

"Oh no…Pan…get us back home quickly. Bulla, she's…" Bulma was still weary from spinning so much that she almost passed out and Pan had her arms firmly wrapped around the two.

"On it," she said and glanced back up one more time. _Dad, please be careful._

Gohan couldn't help but see Tien's more deranged look on his face, disturbed that the normally calm and collected face he always had gave way to this twisted face that wouldn't stop smiling back at him, eyes wide with those freaky red lines on them.

"I have to get these two back to the battle with the android so Pan can get Bulma and Bulla back home safe," he said, sensing that Bulla's energy had faded after she got hit by Piccolo's attack and he frowned at his old mentor. He sighed, knowing that he'd have to fight him now and wished this day had gone by differently. He powered up again and waited for an opening from Piccolo to attack. He factored in this strange behaviour to give him a strategic advantage since this was beyond Piccolo's normal behaviour. Piccolo and Tien began attacking Gohan and their hits were easily dodged. Gohan caught Tien's fist and kneed him in the gut to stagger him while blocking a few shots from Piccolo to elbow him in the face. They both grunted but their faces remained mostly the same and Gohan's eyes widened. _What kind of energy is making them like this?_

"You should have listened to my advice, Gohan," Piccolo said and charged up an energy ball in his hand. Gohan narrowed his eyes, but he remembered Piccolo's warning from earlier before he left with Goku.

"What did that android do to the two of you?! Answer me!" Gohan yelled but Tien chuckled a bit.

"Our masters will grant us life once more. In time, the great and powerful technological marvel of the Tsufurian race will be born anew," Tien said and Gohan's eyes widened.

"T-Tsufurian race?"

"Yes, we Tsufurians will return and use this planet as its vessel to help us get our revenge against the vile Saiyans that destroyed us," Piccolo added and Gohan was at a loss for what this all meant.

"What does this have to do with Freeza?" Gohan asked but the two wouldn't answer him.

"This one reeks of Saiyan filth," Tien said and his smile finally vanished. Piccolo's smile faded as well and he nodded.

"We must purge all Saiyans and infect this planet to regrow our Emperor's depleted forces," Piccolo stated and the two aimed energy blasts at Gohan who deflected them as they were firing at him. Gohan occasionally shot glances back where Pan was flying and deduced that she was at a safe enough distance for him to make a move and he began to fly back to Goku and Tundra.

"Hey, if you want me, come and get me!" he shouted and powered up to gain a burst of speed, gaining some distance from the two but they immediately flew off in pursuit. _Damn you, Freeza, what did you send to Earth?!_

 **The long-awaited rematch…**

An excavation crew of half a dozen soot-faced men left a mining shaft on a planet named Pots. Several wiped their faces with already soiled rags that were covered with so much dirt and grime its original color was no longer recognizable. Their cargo was being loaded onto the back of a transport ship and they all took their hats off, breathing in the fresh air outside.

"Thank goodness we got this last load out before sunset. Who's piloting this time?"

A slender, yet athletic-shaped man raised his hand and the leader nodded. The leader was a gruff bearded man with a large gut and a complexion that implied one wouldn't mess with him on any given day yet his eyes did cast a caring nature when it came to his crew. Most of the miners thought he often resembled Lord Barbon if he had only grown his mustache but the foreman brushed it off, saying that despite similarities in the species, he never wanted to take on the responsibility of a Pride Trooper. He loved minerals, rocks, and ores too much to give up his dream job and relaxing at Netfiss's famous bar after a long day in the mine shaft was all he would ever ask for.

"Remind me when we're out of orbit to get in touch with the missus to let her know to meet me at the _Trooper's Calling_ tonight. I've got a nice surprise for her birthday tomorrow but wanted to give it to her early," the leader told the pilot and he responded with a thumbs up and the crew all gave him casual grins.

A figure teleported all of a sudden behind him, his back facing the crew and they all stopped abruptly in a panic, eyeing him. One of them let out a yelp as he saw the man appear out of thin air and pointed behind the leader.

He turned around and almost fell on his back, losing balance as the figure glanced behind him at the crew.

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that, still getting used to this teleportation. I didn't mean to drop in on you so closely," he said and the leader cleared his throat, staring at him. It took him a few moments and the crew began to clue in as well after they got a good look at the man's face that it was the fugitive that had escaped a while ago and was still at large. His face had been littering holographic screens across the universe, advising anyone to inform their nearest Pride Trooper should they ever see him.

Kelerot's image had been drilled in their heads often enough that it took a moment for the crew to calm themselves down, only for them to panic once more as recognition set in. They slowly backed away from him and Kelerot frowned.

"This planet will not be safe for anyone still on here. You have a few moments to get your bearings together and get away on your ship," Kelerot told them and they all nodded.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" the man who said he was piloting the ship rushed to the cockpit to start it up as the rest of the crew finished loading their cargo and slammed the door, running as fast as they could to board the ship before it took to the air and Kelerot watched as it left orbit, glancing back at the mine shaft.

Planet Pots was a heavily sought planet for construction materials, some of the best in the universe. It was even in the very mine shaft Kelerot stared at that they mined raw Kachitite, something he noticed was among the cargo they had loaded onto their ship before taking off. He wanted to explore the mine a bit but knew that Jiren was on his way to engage him.

Part of him wanted nothing to do with Jiren, but his desire for fighting grew over his time spent in the Galactic Prison. He'd chuckle to himself, asking why a simple farmer would want to fight the strongest mortal in the universe and his master Daikon was partially to blame for that, fueling their dormant desire to fight. He never realized how much his fellow Saiyans got a thrill for fighting until Daikon showed up and began training them. It was even more significant after he had met the Saiyans from the Seventh Universe that the call to battle was too much to ignore. Despite his initial doubt, he stood there in front of the mine shaft, waiting for Jiren to appear.

The ground began to shake from the energy that was coming towards the planet. It rumbled softly and the air grew denser as Kelerot sensed him entering the atmosphere. His own energy climbed slowly as a smile grew on his face, his eyes closed.

When Jiren landed, he frowned as he looked around him. He was familiar with Pots and the materials mined here and he stared at Kelerot.

"You chose an interesting location for our fight," he told him and Kelerot opened his eyes to stare back at him.

"We can still avoid this," Kelerot started, getting a slight puzzled look on Jiren's face, even though much of it doesn't change often.

"If only Toppo, Dyspo, and Kahseral exercised better judgment, none of what has transpired would've ever happened. Their fates were sealed the moment they caged me like an animal with the other wild beasts."

Kelerot's power was still rising and Jiren could feel the tension mount, standing ready to engage. His anger, calm yet focused, rose considerably inside him as well. He swore he'd never live that tragedy again, those he cared about slaughtered by a monster. His friends that he had finally acknowledged and put his trust in were now gone. He was the only Pride Trooper left and he stared at the very person eluding them to kill them all. Despite his anger, he was still unwilling to deal a killing blow. He wanted to incapacitate him so that he could no longer be a threat and maybe in some way rehabilitate him himself.

"One last chance, Jiren!" Kelerot offered his hand to him. "My vendetta isn't with you. Your power and sense of justice does not need to be my anathema. We can cast this aside and work together to bring a new order of justice, one that treats matters better than the old vision of only seeing things in black and white. I've gained a lot of power and I want to put it to use to help the people of this universe. I'd rather be looked upon as a saviour than a monster. So stop treating this issue with such a one-sided view and listen to me for once!"

Jiren grinned, which wasn't helping Kelerot's pleading gaze. He was hesitant about whether Kelerot sounded sincere with his message but his smile was holding back his seething rage that he wanted to unleash.

"You continue to boast that you're not a monster. You claim you haven't done despicable acts yet the evidence you leave behind contradicts everything you stand for," Jiren said, taking a few steps towards him with his fists clenched. Each step brought with it a level of power that decimated plateaus with it, each pulse of energy generating gale force winds that would've blown away any lesser being yet Kelerot stood firm in his stance.

"Nothing you say will convince me. You're just another criminal I must subdue and bring to justice, nothing more, nothing less. You should've stayed away from this universe while you still could."

Kelerot slowly lowered his hand, staring down at the ground with a hint of sadness. "So that's your resolution, isn't it?"

Jiren stopped and grunted, powering up this time. The power he was giving off before was eclipsed by the one he was displaying now. Yet for all the power he was giving off, Kelerot was unmoved by it, staring back at him with the same look he had while staring down at the ground. When the energy subsided, Kelerot didn't see any aura surrounding him but could feel it within him. He was a seasoned warrior, well-trained and bringing with him decades of combat experience through sheer training alone. Strength training, mental training, image training: Jiren was doing that ever since Gicchin took him under his wing as a youth long ago. Kelerot felt a sense of familiarity in that strength, for he too needed that mental and image training to grow stronger while in prison. But for all the similarity in training regimen, their overall purpose were polar opposites.

He lifted his eyes and glared at Jiren, gritting his teeth. "Don't think for a moment this is going to go so easy this time for you. Because you adhere to that stubborn ideology that I've grown to loathe so much, I'll make this perfectly clear: Only one of us is leaving this battle alive."

Another smile from Jiren's mouth didn't faze Kelerot but his smile quickly vanished when Kelerot unleashed his power.

He unleashed a beastly scream to the heavens as he powered up, a dark purple aura flaring around him. His features began to change as the color of his fur shifted. What was once a darker shade of brown was now a deep purple with black at the end, as though the tip of his fur had been charred. His eyes took on a different tone as they adopted a similar shade of purple much like the aura but not as dark and Jiren knew what this could mean. He saw it happen within Barbon and knew that this was what Kelerot was embracing as well. Strange symbols began to glow on Kelerot's chest that shone an eerie crimson and Kelerot relaxed his stance as he finished his power-up.

"A God of Destruction's power," Jiren stated and braced himself for the first move. Kelerot's aura disappeared and his image became clearer for Jiren to see. He examined his hands and arms and he was a little surprised by his new look. After his brief stint admiring his new features, he glanced at Jiren and took a step forward. He vanished a split-second afterwards and appeared in front of Jiren from above him, palm stretched outward, hoping to end this fight quickly. Jiren was ready for this and responded with a flash of his eyes and an explosion rocked the area between them, pushing Kelerot back. He flipped back a few times and Jiren was immediately on the offensive, going into an aggressive fighting state as the two began their battle.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24 – "Discoveries both good and bad! Cooler makes his move."**

 **Guardians of the Grand Elder…**

Rimba and Harp stood outside Grand Elder Esca's domain with their arms crossed, watching ahead. They had their senses attuned to two nefarious individuals making their way to their location, likely based on the earlier assumption that Freeza's henchmen carried devices to locate them throughout the planet.

The one-star Dragonball sat on a silk cushion behind Esca as he paced back and forth nervously, his hand clutching his walking staff more tightly than usual. The impending disaster that loomed overhead on Namek echoed all the horrific memories he shared with his siblings the first time they laid eyes on Freeza.

Even after he was revived from his death, the vivid memory of piercing blood-red eyes staring at him with murderous intent if Elder Muri hadn't cooperated with the tyrant's wish to obtain the Dragonball remained transfixed in his mind.

He and Cargo were still plagued by nightmares of what happened. The last thing Esca remembered before waking up in a cold sweat was the feeling of an energy blast enveloping him from behind, as though he was hit with a giant boulder that crashed into him and crushed him underneath. The feeling of every single organ in his body liquified from the heat of the energy beam made his heart race and his hands shake after he woke up to compose himself. Yet for all that had happened with Freeza and with Moro, Esca could not bring himself to hate what had happened, he had been wracked too much with the feeling of terror to even think of what it would be like to be angry at enemies of astronomical power.

He stopped pacing back and forth and decided to join his guards outside and they both gave him a concerned look.

"Grand Elder, it isn't safe out here. Freeza's men are on their way and could be here within minutes. Please remain inside and keep the Dragonball safe and hidden. We will deal with these intruders," Rimba said, bowing down on one knee. Harp copied him and Esca gave the two warrior-type Namekians a warm smile and he shook his head, sighing.

"I've been walking in that room for 20 minutes frantically collecting my thoughts about repeating our bloodied history," he said and put his hands on his guards' shoulders. They rose back up on their feet and Esca stood in between them, staring off in the distance. He too could sense the two men and his heart sank a moment when he saw the two blips appear over the horizon.

Rimba and Harp raised their hands to shield Esca and they motioned their hands back. Esca nodded and flashed them his most confident look behind them. The two guards seemed to have felt that look and smiled, staring at the two figures growing larger in their line of sight and it wasn't long until they stopped and landed on the grass in front of them.

The bulkier man with green skin and black hair, cracked his knuckles and his neck, while the taller amphibian-looking humanoid with dark red skin stared eye-to-eye with the Namekian warriors with a delightful smile on his face. He seemed to be content that there were Namekians as tall as he was and chuckled at his companion.

"Hey Dore, how does it feel to be the shortest one among us?" he asked him and Dore couldn't help but bark a laugh himself.

"I ain't one to crack short jokes, not with Lord Freeza around," Dore said, punching his open palm with his fist. "I don't think he'd like hearing that unless you value your head. Let's just get this over with and report back to Lord Cooler with their Dragonball. He's been growing impatient the more time we're wasting on this planet."

Dore and Neiz approached the Namekian guards and they both nodded at each other before charging forward with a knee shot to the two henchmen, forcing them to block them.

"Hey! We're the ones who're supposed to get this fight started!" Dore cried and both he and Rimba began their fight, taking theirs to the air. Neiz and Harp began trading blows as well.

Esca kicked a rug off the floor with his foot and revealed a trap door. He unlatched the hook and lifted the door open, setting it aside before he rushed to retrieve the large Dragonball the size of a medicine ball from its cushion and hold it beside him as he lowered himself down the ladder that was attached to a vertical shaft below the trap door. He climbed down several steps and used his open hand to channel energy to form a ball of light to illuminate the tunnel before him. It was his only means to hide the Dragonball, something he thought he and his people would never have to resort to, but with two legitimate threats that have hit them in the past, precautions were necessary to ensure that they'd at least hide the Dragonballs so they wouldn't be able to find them. As long as they couldn't obtain all seven, Porunga would never be summoned. There was also the issue of his lifelink to the Dragonballs. Since he now carries the essence of the Dragonballs and Porunga inside him, his death would mean that they would no longer function and Porunga would cease to exist unless he transferred it to another Dragon-type Namekian. He thought of Cargo or Ocari for that task and have them escape on a hidden spacecraft within the confines of this underground lair, but he was still holding onto the hope that Goku and his friends would be aware of this and find their way here to help them like last time.

Rimba was faring well against Dore, blocking his punches and kicks and Dore flew up to start swarming him with consistent energy blasts, firing them at rapid succession. Rimba deflected and dodged them as they hit the planet's surface, causing several explosions along the landscape. Their fight was far enough not to impact the Grand Elder's residence and Rimba made sure that he'd draw their fight as far away from there as he could.

Harp rocked Neiz with an elbow to the head and an attempt at a chop forced Neiz to tuck his head inside his body via his flexible neck, stunning the Namekian. When his head popped back out, he was able to catch Harp with a few shots while he was still distracted. As he was sent flying from the impact, Harp regained his senses and fired a double energy wave from his palms at Neiz, who weaved his way between the two beams and flew up out of the beam's trajectory and rushed at Harp with an array of roundhouse kicks that Harp was able to block. He countered with a rapid punch as he flew towards Neiz, hitting him squarely in the face and spun around to hit him in the back with the same double energy beam from a moment earlier, sending him crashing into the landscape. Harp grinned as he powered up even more, heightening his strength as a blazing white aura surrounded him and Rimba noticed as well, nodding with a smile on his face.

"Harp doesn't want to drag this out any longer than he should," Rimba said and he too powered up to heighten his energy and the scouter on Dore's head burst from the energy fluctuation.

"His power peaked at over 550 thousand," Dore muttered to himself, stunned at how high the reading was before the scouter burst. Fear bubbled up inside him like a volcano ready to erupt as Rimba stared at him and Dore chuckled a bit, more out of anxiety than from confidence, which ebbed more as Rimba's power increased.

"We learned a great deal from the threats that plagued us over the years and we trained hard to make sure evil beings such as you never harm us ever again," Rimba said and Dore glared at him, flustered and angry.

"Oh yeah? What good will two of you do against the entire Cooler force? Huh? Answer me that, chump!"

Rimba chose not to answer, rather he burst in a high speed move and kneed Dore in the gut so hard his whole body shook. Growling and clenching his teeth, he grabbed the Namekian by the head with both his hands and began to squeeze.

"If I can't beat you, I'll at least pop your head open!" he cried out and Rimba stared at him casually. He raised his hand and grabbed him by the wrist, pulling Dore's hand off his head and with a quick flick of his hand, he snapped Dore's forearm in two from inside and Dore screamed, letting the Namekian go to grab his forearm. Rimba raised his other hand, palm facing outward, frowning with a narrow-eyed stare at him.

"You should not have come to this planet. Burn in hell," he said and vaporized Dore with a huge energy blast, Dore's scream engulfed by a bright pillar of energy that shot over him. Rimba lowered his hand and glanced behind him at Harp, wondering how he was faring against the other one.

Neiz's scouter burst as well from the surge that came from Rimba's vicinity as he glanced to his side in shock.

"Dammit, was that Dore?" he cried and Harp glanced over to that direction as well.

"Looks like your friend didn't fare so well against Rimba," Harp muttered and Neiz gulped, feeling his composure unravel. He was too distracted by the numbers from Rimba and Dore to notice how high Harp's power rating had climbed up to and he glared at the Namekian, building up energy in his hands.

"Lord Cooler must have that Dragonball, above all else!" Neiz yelled and fired an electric wave at Harp. Harp's eyes widened as he was struck and purple-colored light surrounded him and electrocuted him as Neiz chuckled, holding him in place.

"Fry, fry, fry!" Neiz cackled and felt a tapping on his shoulder, the one that wasn't covered by his armor and his head turned a complete 180 degrees due to his flexible neck at the other Namekian and his eyes widened. He let his energy go yet it still kept a hold on Harp as his body spun around to face Rimba and Neiz growled at him.

"I'll make you pay for killing Dore!" he yelled but was rocked in the chest by a palm thrust from Rimba which knocked the air right out of him and he gasped out of shock. Rimba followed with a kick that sent Neiz flying straight at Harp, who grabbed him and sent his own electric wave coursing through him, burning him completely until he was left a charred black husk that fell to the planet surface below. Harp blew a small sigh and stared down at the body as it hit the ground and glanced back up at Rimba.

"That should've bought the Grand Elder enough time for him to hide the Dragonball so Freeza can't get his hands on it," Harp said and Rimba nodded.

"They said something about a Lord Cooler, though. Is he another one associated with Freeza?" Rimba asked and they both stared off in the direction those two came from and their hearts sank as they began sensing Freeza's power, coupled with another equally large power beside him.

"We should hide with the Grand Elder and make sure the Dragonball is safe," Rimba said, Harp nodding in agreement. They both flew back to the Grand Elder's residence and climbed down the trap door to the tunnel to join up with Esca.

Back at the ship, Salza was busy on his communicator and his eyes widened.

"Dore! Neiz! Come in! Come in, now! Dore!" he cried and both Cooler and Freeza were looking at him.

"Er…My Lord Cooler, something must've happened to Dore and Neiz, they're not responding," Salza informed him and Cooler breathed an annoying sigh.

"It would seem the Namekians they encountered gave them more than they bargained for. How unfortunate they couldn't retrieve the Dragonball for us," Freeza said with a gleeful air to his voice, smirking. Cooler stood up.

"Relay me the coordinates from their scouters before they were destroyed, I want a lock on their last known location," Cooler ordered Salza and he ran to the console to look up the sensor display.

"M-my Lord, Bonyu and I will go and find the Dragonball. We're far stronger than Dore and Neiz combined," Salza said, turning to face him but Cooler bore down on him, staring him in the face with a menacing glare.

"What was your scouter's reading of those two large powers before you lost communication with Dore and Neiz?" Cooler casually asked and Salza gulped.

"O-over 550 thousand each, my Lord," he muttered and Bonyu's eyes lit up a moment as well. She was every bit the consummate soldier of the Cooler Armored Squadron and awaited orders from Cooler, but she also served as special attendant to Berryblue upon the elder's request when she needed her aid. For now, she wondered what this bit of news would portend for both her and Salza, waiting for him to answer Cooler's querry.

"Pathetic that I let my men be wiped out by Namekian small fry," Cooler said, standing tall. He began walking towards the doors and they slid open admitting Berryblue, who gave him an upward glance with her signature grin before she sauntered past him.

"Heading out?" she asked, not looking at him. Cooler didn't say anything and continued walking with a scowl on his face. He hated having to do the work of his squadron but he wanted nothing more to do with these Namekian riffraff and insisted on obtaining the remaining Dragonballs as soon as possible so they could draw out Goku and his companions, however many decide to join them.

Berryblue approached Freeza as he watched Cooler leave with his arms crossed and he decided to take Cooler's chair, adjusting himself on it with a smile on his face. The crew eyed him warily with extreme caution and growing fear, knowing that if Cooler found out Freeza was occupying his seat, no amount of fraternal bonding would prevent them from clashing physically.

"Lord Freeza, you would be pleased to know the bio-androids have arrived on Earth far earlier than expected and have made significant progress," she informed him and Freeza grinned a bit.

"Then I expect they won't be complete failures?" he asked her.

"Oh trust me, Lord Freeza. We've made certain they would not fail us when their unique abilities are bearing fruit," she said with a malicious grin on her face. When she heard Glacial inform her that they enacted Project Nion, she felt a great deal of joy burst within her yet her face would never give that away.

"Will they actually carry out my orders to destroy the Dragonballs?" he asked out of curiosity.

"If you asked them to jump into the event horizon of a black hole, my Lord, they would obey without question," Berryblue said with confidence and Freeza chuckled a bit. He wasn't sure how long it would take Cooler to finish what he set out to do, but he eyed his favorite vintage and Berryblue noticed, pouring him a small amount in his glass.

"I often forget the sweet taste of small victories. I very rarely covet them, thinking too much of the grand scheme of it all. That I can finally get my wish granted, knowing that regardless of Goku's attempt to thwart my goal, I will have the means to regain not only control of this universe, but the power needed to conquer every single one of them and establish my business accordingly. Certainly, the Destroyers would no doubt approve of my business model once they see how effective it is."

"Of course, my Lord," Berryblue nodded in agreement.

 **A rush to Capsule Corporation…**

Pan never once looked back after being forced to carry both Bulma and Bulla in her arms back to Capsule Corporation. Abandoning all the Dragonballs Bulma had obtained meant they'd have to come back later to retrieve them from the bottom of the ocean. Pan wasn't sure how deep they had fallen and was a bit reluctant on whether it was worth risking her physical well-being to dive deep underwater to find them.

She often caught her father's lectures or would sit in on his practice speeches as he discussed varying topics to prepare himself for when he gave his seminar to a broader audience. She and her mother would sit and watch attentively, though Pan for the most part tried to listen as much as she could before nodding off. She did catch a few pieces here and there about the subject of archeology and how often the ocean yields so many mysterious items that have yet to be discovered, yet you'd need the proper equipment if you want to survive the incredible pressure of deep water exploration.

She did remember him explaining the aftereffects of diving under heavy pressure and shuddered at the description of what dying underwater dozens of feet below was like and she shook her head, clearing that out quickly before putting in another burst of power to increase her speed. She desperately needed to get Bulla back to the facility and get a senzu bean if they even had some to spare. If she were lucky, she'd have enough for Bulla and for Uub to recover from his fight.

She went red in the face a bit when she thought of Uub and how strong he had become. She lamented her hasty decision to abandon him while he was fighting Choi and wondered if she really should head back to Papaya island to meet up with him and bring him up to speed on what had happened to Piccolo and Tien. When that thought entered her mind, she winced.

"Uncle…"

She felt the emotions well up but suppressed them. Something had to be done to help Piccolo and Tien come back to their senses and expel the evil energy that infected them.

 _The Piccolo I know would never attack Bulla and Bulma like that,_ she thought and was infuriated at him for a moment but groaned. _Dummy, don't start blaming Uncle for something he has no control over. Papa and Grandpa's gonna take care of this. Please bring them back!_

She saw Metro West coming through over the horizon and the massive compound that was Capsule Corporation was front-and-center. She descended as quickly as she could and landed on her feet, being careful not to drop the two. She held onto Bulma as she laid Bulla down on the ground and helped her back to her feet.

"Miss Bulma? Are you still unconscious?" Pan inquired, as Bulma stirred a bit under her arm. She stifled a groan and held a hand to her head, almost losing balance again. Pan held her steady and Bulma opened her eyes to gaze down at the two girls, one with a bloodied gash on her head and the other forcing a smile up at her.

"Thank goodness," Pan said and Bulma slowly knelt down to examine Bulla more closely.

"Please tell me you have senzu beans stored away somewhere," Pan pleaded and Bulma still felt a great deal of dizziness. It was all she could do to stand still a moment while everything was still spinning around her and she suppressed the urge to empty her breakfast on the ground beside her daughter.

"I, I think I do. I can't remember if I have any or not. Let's help Bulla onto a bed and wrap her head first," she said and Pan picked up her friend, holding her over her shoulder. Bulma was still slow to walk inside the building and Pan followed closely behind. She was starting to feel the desperation of going back to helping her family fight off those things and leave Bulma to look after Bulla but making sure they were safe above all else mattered more.

When Bulla was laid down on a bed in the medical wing of the compound, the nurse on site wrapped her head in a bandage and Bulma was eased into a chair nearby, offered a glass of water with a cold compress to help ease the dizziness.

"Damn this age, it really wants to strangle me," she muttered to herself, cursing herself. A thought flashed in her head that if they get the Dragonballs back she'd wish for her youth to be restored but grumbled in frustration as she glared ahead in annoyance. Pan glanced away quickly, averting her eyes to that penetrating look of indignation she always had when her temper flared up. Sometimes she had noticed that in Bulla as well during their training and her power spiked up for that moment when frustration set in. Having the temper of both Bulma and Vegeta made Pan wonder how in the world Bulla is able to control her anger so well. "Papa would tell me to focus my anger into my fighting, like all Saiyans do," Bulla would say and Pan was left a bit awestruck.

Pan didn't want to be distracted and looked pleadingly at Bulma. "Miss Bulma, please try to remember where you kept them, I really need to get them for Bulla and Uub."

"Right, the beans," Bulma said softly and closed her eyes, hand holding the compress to her head. She felt the soothing coolness wash away her nausea and grinned at how relaxing it felt. It was an unusually warmer day in the city and having to bear the increase in temperature when so much work needed to be done meant extra stress she didn't ask for and when she remembered how angry she felt earlier for the failed test of the infinite engine core, realization hit.

"Oh god, what have I done?" she moaned, holding the compress more tightly against her head. She almost added to the pain of her small headache from the pressure but relaxed immediately afterwards and got a perplexing stare from Pan.

"Um, what _did_ you do?" Pan asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing you need to worry about. Just angry at myself for something I keep failing to accomplish. You ever just want to give up after trying so many times to achieve your goal only to come up short every single time?"

Pan grinned. "I wanted to during my training. I wanted desperately to become a Super Saiyan like Bulla, but it just wasn't coming. Maybe because I thought I didn't have enough Saiyan blood in me. But in that frustration and desperation, I tapped into an even greater power that was like my father's. I think in my frustration, I stumbled upon something that worked even better in my favor and gave me new determination to succeed. Then I realized I didn't need to become a Super Saiyan since I had this power flowing through me. Funny, it was only during that moment when I let go of my stupid ambition that achieving the transformation became simpler."

Bulma chuckled a bit. She saw the two girls and couldn't help but smile at them. Two really good friends and competitive rivals, always trying to be better than the other. She tried to stand up and felt a momentary wave of vertigo but it cleared up after a few seconds and she nodded.

"Right, time to find those senzu beans."

"What if we don't find any or you realize you didn't have any hidden away?" Pan asked as the two left the room. Bulma shot a backward glance at Bulla for a moment and pursed her lips. She didn't want to leave so soon, but Pan would be lost in this whole compound if Bulma didn't help her navigate the shortest route to her laboratory, where she kept an immense amount of treasures and trinkets she accumulated and collected over the years.

As they walked down the hall, Dr. Briefs and Mrs. Briefs were approaching them from the other end of the hall, leaving the tea room after a brief pause to enjoy some of Mrs. Briefs latest bakery purchases with a delicious cup of oolong tea to wash it down.

"Oh, Bulma dear, welcome back!" Bulma's mother shouted, hands to her face. Bulma gave her a weak smile and Pan gave her a small wave.

"Did you find the Dragonballs?" Dr. Briefs asked and both Bulma and Pan gave each other a look before Pan cleared her throat.

"We kinda sorta have found them but we got a bigger emergency. Do you guys have any senzu beans stored away somewhere?"

"Senzu beans?" Dr. Briefs put a hand to his chin, glancing up. He chewed the end of his unlit cigarette and scratched the back of his head while Mrs. Briefs got closer to the two.

"There's still lots of delicious cakes left over. I couldn't bear finishing them all knowing you'd want some, dear!" she sang and Bulma forced a smile.

"Maybe later, mom. Dad, where did we keep the senzu beans?"

"Hmm, lemme give this one a once-over," Dr. Briefs said, turning to walk down the hall. Mrs. Briefs bent down to pinch Pan's cheeks.

"Oh my, how much you've grown, Pan dear! Your mom and dad must be so proud to see how big you've become!" she said and Pan went red in the cheeks.

"Um, thank you, Miss."

"Do you want a slice of cake? There's strawberry shortcake, carrot cake, cheesecake, Bundt cake…" Mrs. Briefs recited and Pan glanced behind the older woman and swallowed.

"Sorry, I gotta go!" she cried and rushed past Mrs. Briefs to join Bulma.

"Aw, they're gonna miss out," she muttered, a bit dejected.

Pan stifled a few groans of impatience as Dr. Briefs was taking a bit longer to look over the storage bins in their main laboratory. Bulma was a bit more frantic in her search, opening old boxes to see if there were bags still left inside and put them down on the floor. Pan leaned back against a work bench and kept sighing, her sighs increasing in volume as each box was put on the floor.

"C'mon, c'mon…" Pan moaned, clenching her fists. Dr. Briefs was pacing around the room and stopped when she saw the white board that had an array of formulas he and Bulma had been working on during their project to build the infinite engine core.

"Huh? What's this doing here?" he said and spotted a page taped to the board.

"Oh, the grocery list. I was wondering where that had gone off to. Bulma, I'm gonna hand this grocery list over to the assistant, okay?" he said and casually left the room. Bulma sneezed from a cloud of dust that had accumulated from an aging box on a high shelf and she goggled at her father leaving the room, sighing out of annoyance.

"Seriously, of all the times to be doing this," she stood back up and walked over to where her father had been searching and glanced at the white board for a moment. When she saw the area that had been covered by the sheet of paper moments ago, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

"Wait a moment…" she said and nervously drummed her fingers on her cheek. She traced a finger in the air in front of the board and Pan eyed her curiously.

"Miss Bulma?"

"Wait…"

"Wait for what?"

"Shhh."

Pan blinked, watching Bulma work her finger in the air, drawing imaginary lines and numbers and when her eyes went back on that spot once more, she let out a scream, freaking her out.

"How could we have been so blind?!" Bulma cried, turning to Pan. "Dad! GET BACK IN HERE!"

Pan blinked, at a loss for what this all meant and Bulma grabbed her hands, jumping up and down, her movement making Pan sway up and down despite some protest from the girl.

"Miss. Bulma. Please. Stop. You're. Making. Me. Dizzy!" Pan shouted in between each jumps and Bulma started laughing.

"We had the solution the whole time but we hid the essential part of it behind a piece of paper! How did we not notice that before!" she shouted and laughed again. Dr. Briefs shuffled back in the laboratory and puffed a few times from a now lit cigarette.

"What's all the commotion?" he asked and Bulma grabbed his hands.

"The formula! We had it solved! We cracked the code, dad! WE DID IT!" she shouted and pulled him vigorously towards the white board and uncovered the other boards that were draped in greying white sheets and pointed to the area that had the paper taped over it and Dr. Briefs examined it a moment. He nodded and tapped on the section he had covered earlier.

"Yep, I knew something was missing. I taped a grocery list on this last week so I wouldn't forget. Guess I must've forgot."

Bulma's smile broke as her laughing came to a screeching halt.

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!" her scream could be heard throughout the entire compound, interrupting everyone mid-work and she pointed at the board, glaring at her father.

"You mean to tell me we had this solved for a week now and we didn't do anything about it?!" she screamed, yet Dr. Brief's unfazed reaction caused her to hang her head and sigh heavily.

"I wrecked our engine for nothing!" she slumped down onto the floor, defeated.

Pan couldn't hold back her impatience any longer. "Are we finding the senzu beans or not?! Bulla's life is still in danger!"

Bulma lifted her head and exchanged puzzled looks with her father for a moment before she stood up. She stared down at her with a grin on her face. Pan wasn't thrilled to see Bulma have such an expression and she glared at the two of them.

"How can you two be so calm at a time like this? Don't you care about Bulla's well-being?" Pan cried but Bulma could only snicker a bit under her breath.

"I'm not that worried about Bulla, she took a bad hit but she's not going to die from that," Bulma stated and Pan glared at her.

"How could you possibly know that?!" Bulma walked over to Pan and tapped her on the tip of her nose with her finger.

"Her father's Vegeta, remember? A minor thing like a hit to the head won't keep my strong, smart, and beautiful daughter out of action for very long."

"I, um, I, I guess so," Pan said, too flustered in her state of panic to think straight. She pinched the bridge of her nose, remembering that Bulla was half-Saiyan and carried a lot of resilience with her in terms of fighting ability with all the training she went through.

"I'm sorry, I can't think straight when I'm this worried. The faster I can get those senzu beans, the faster we can get Bulla back on her feet and we'll go back to help my dad and my grandpa."

Bulma paused for a moment, then it dawned on her. "Oh right, now I remember."

"You do? Where are the senzu?"

"We don't have any."

Pan almost fell, holding herself up with the table behind her and she sighed.

"Guess I'll see if I have any back home then," she muttered.

"There's also Korin's tower. You could pretty much get it right from the source if you need them that badly," Bulma said and Pan tilted her head a moment.

"Korin's tower? Where have I heard that name before?"

"The long white spire that's directly underneath Kami's lookout. Big white cat-looking person, kinda odd?" Bulma said and was hoping that would jog Pan's memory.

"Well, I haven't met this Korin guy before, but I do know where the lookout is. I'll be back as quickly as possible!" She darted out of the laboratory and retraced her steps to leave the compound, darting past Mrs. Briefs before she had a chance to ask her to join her again. She wasted as little time as possible and flew straight up, putting as much of her energy into her flying as she could and a white aura surrounded her.

Bulma and her father made their way to the damaged engine and she examined it. Despite some charred pieces from when the transistor blew during their experiment, there weren't many noticeable dents on the chassis and she nodded, tracing her hand along the surface.

"Thank goodness I didn't smash it as hard as I thought I did," she said, then frowned. _If I had Vegeta's strength, this thing would've been toast._

"I have replacements on hand for such an incident like this. With the proper calculations this time, we can get this up and running in no time," Dr. Briefs said, putting out his cigarette in its ashtray and Bulma put her fist on her open hand.

"Right, no time like the present. Once repairs are complete I can look and see whether Android 16's transfer is completed and give his new body a test run."

A huge smile appeared on her face, feeling relieved that things were going back on track. She was so engrossed in her assertion that everything had set themselves back in place that she completely forgot about the Dragonballs.

 **An old technique returns…**

It didn't take Gohan very long to lead Tien and Piccolo back to the fight that was still going on between Goku, Tundra, Goten, and Trunks. Tundra was holding his own remarkably well and continued using his sonic wave attack to keep the three at a distance and Gohan frowned.

"That sonic attack of his will be a problem real fast if we don't find a way around it," he thought openly and glanced behind him. Tien and Piccolo began firing energy blasts in rapid succession at Gohan from behind and he spun around to deflect them away, aiming them towards the sky so most of them wouldn't strike the earth below.

He continued deflecting energy blasts that he brought his hands back to respond with a Masenko beam, creating an explosion when it collided with the energy attacks.

"That should buy me some time," he said and powered up for an extra burst of speed to reunite with Goku, Goten, and Trunks.

"Are they safe?" Goku asked and Gohan nodded.

"Yeah, I bought them enough time to escape and lured Tien and Piccolo back here. Goten," he said, getting his brother's attention.

"I'm going to need a hand to help subdue them, we only need to knock them unconscious," he told him and Goten nodded.

"You and dad can handle that jerk, right Trunks?" Goten said, nodding at Tundra and Trunks eyed the android cautiously.

"Yeah, I can hold my own."

"Trunks, I know you had some trouble earlier in the tournament but this is far more serious and I need you to keep your mind sharp," Goku said.

"It won't matter how good you brats are!" Tundra laughed. "The more infected I bring to my side, the better our odds and the stronger our army becomes!"

Tundra's smile widened even more when he caught a glimpse of a silhouette flying from the distance under the sunlight. When Goku and the others caught sight of it, Goku's frown grew and Gohan's eyes widened a bit.

"What the?"

Their eyes caught sight of a feminine figure with similar features that they've been familiar with when dealing with Freeza, only her slender, more curvaceous feature made it hard for them to believe that the members of Freeza's family ever had female genes.

"Splendid timing, Glacial. We can kill them all together," Tundra said and Glacial had her arms wrapped around herself, resting her hand against her cheek in a playful manner. She stared mostly at Goku, stealing glances at the other Saiyans in the vicinity. The Pilaf gang, who had still been doing their best to hide out of sight of the battle, gawked at the second android in the air and Pilaf was freaking out.

"More of those monsters are showing up? They all look like that one guy from long ago when those space goons used my Dragonballs to wish him back to life!" he yelled and Shu gulped.

"Lord Pilaf! Why are we still here?! We'll get killed if there's any more of those people fighting!"

That brought Pilaf's attention back to them and he swallowed as well, nodding. He turned to the big man with them.

"Bao, get us to the nearest shore, we're swimming as far away as possible!" he barked and Bao grabbed the two of them, using the strength of his bulky legs to propel himself down the island towards the beach. A figure landed before them and they stopped, screaming. Pilaf recognized him as Tien and Shu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness you're here. I remember you were one of Goku's friends, right? You gotta help them! Those freaks are too much!" Pilaf shouted at him but Tien's grin and eyes were too wide and full of malice for him to notice yet Bao was the first to catch on.

"Hey boss, that guy has weird looking eyes," he said and Pilaf shrugged himself out of his grasp, turning around to stare up at him.

"Of course his eyes are weird, you idiot, he has three of them!" he shouted and Shu sighed.

"Don't ask how he has three eyes, Bao, we're just glad to see a strong fighter handle this situation so we can get ourselves out of here," Shu said in a more calm voice but Bao had a finger to his mouth, sucking on his index as he stared at the crazed look Tien was giving the three.

Tien wasted no time and charged right at them, touching all three to infect them the evil energy that was inside him. Pilaf and Shu screamed but Bao was more curious than afraid, wondering what was going on. The two small fry fell to their knees, clutching their heads.

"Shu! What did he touch us with? My head!" Pilaf cried and Shu shook his head.

"I don't know, sire! It's giving me a really bad headache!"

After a few moments, the two calmed down and stood up, staring at Tien. They both had small grins on their faces with red lines criss-crossing across their eyes. Bao looked down at them, confused.

"Boss? How come your eyes look like that other one?" he asked and Tien's grin faded a moment.

"You are unaffected. I should make note of this for Lady Glacial. You two, I have need of you."

Pilaf and Shu stood at attention, bowing at him.

"Whatever our Lady Glacial wishes, so shall we carry it forth," Shu said.

"There are three females that have travelled to Metro West, housing one of Earth's largest and most recognized facilities. Use any means you can to get there and begin infecting the citizens, building our forces. Lord Freeza will be gifted a mighty Tsufurian force for his conquest."

"Understood," Pilaf said. "We shall carry it out at once," Shu added and the two turned to Bao.

"You will take us across the ocean to the nearest land mass," Pilaf said, his tone of voice far different than what Bao was accustomed to and this made him even more nervous than all those times Pilaf lost his temper on him. He gulped and stared at the three, eyeing him with that deadpan gaze of theirs.

"B-boss, I think, I think we still have our own aircraft, don't we? Didn't you steal a capsule from that nice lady with the blue hair earlier while we were flying to this place?" Bao asked and Pilaf put his hands in his pockets, pulling out a few items. When he saw the capsule in his hand, he activated it, conjuring a 4-person aircraft from inside and Bao pointed it out.

"Yeah, that one. We can use that to fly out of here," he said.

"A person too stupid to be infected. Interesting," Tien noted to himself and he stared up at the action. Had he been his normal self, he would've been incapable of ignoring the intense pain that was coursing through his body, not only from the physical punishment he had been taking from his earlier fights, but from the overuse of his Kikoho technique. The evil energy that had taken over him and made him claim to be a member of a long dead alien race is all that's sustaining him now and he saw that Glacial had joined up with her brother and nodded.

"The Tsufurians will live again," he said.

"The Tsufurians will live again," Pilaf and Shu responded in unison and Tien flew up to join the battle.

Piccolo had made his way back to where Gohan was, splitting off with Tien when the former noticed a few stray beings roaming around the island that weren't a part of the main group fighting Tundra and the two agreed to part ways for a moment.

He continued moving in a direct line towards Gohan and both he and Goten sensed him coming. Goten was a little apprehensive about seeing Piccolo like this, feeling an equal amount of doubt about whether he should engage him or not. Gohan put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Don't forget, no killing blows," he told him and powered up to move in for a counter, hoping his fist would cause a greater impact on the infected Namekian as he bolted towards him.

Gohan went in for a right hook and Piccolo took it head-on, but shocked Gohan when he wasn't knocked back. There was a strange resilience in his face, his eyes staring at him differently than the way he was used to when Piccolo would look at him normally. Gohan saw Piccolo as clear as the crystal water below them but to him it felt like he was fighting only a shell housing a vile black substance that moved within his body. He felt knots in his stomach, anxious to be fighting his long-time friend in such a way. Goten steeled himself and joined in, and the two brothers went in with fists and kicks that Piccolo was blocking with his one arm and his legs.

"Why hasn't he regenerated his arm?" Goten cried.

"Because whatever's possessing him to do this doesn't care about putting the body through punishment. It's making him fight without any regard for the life that body's expending."

"That's insane!" Goten yelled and Gohan remained focused.

"Try not to think about it too much, we gotta knock him out and bind him so he can't hurt us or anyone else. We also have to be careful of this evil energy. That's what infected Piccolo when he was fighting Tien."

"Right," Goten said and the two took a fighting stance in the air.

Gohan went in for the attack first but sensed an incoming energy blast from below as he saw Tien fly straight at him with the same crazed look on his face he saw earlier.

"Die Saiyans!" he yelled and continued firing energy blasts that Gohan deflected and Goten jumped in to deflect the remaining barrage.

"I got this, you handle Piccolo," he said and quickly powered up a burst of speed to engage Tien.

"Right," Gohan said and frowned at Piccolo, who stared back at him with a look of malice he hadn't seen in him before. He remembered that mischievous look on Piccolo's face before when he first trained with him as a boy and this look was the look of a complete stranger staring back at him and he held a grim expression.

"I'll get you back to normal, Piccolo, I swear it."

Gohan began exchanging blows with Piccolo, who laughed a bit as he was fighting him.

"You're holding yourself quite well, Saiyan," he said and Gohan caught his fist and drove an elbow to his face, knocking his head back. Piccolo reeled back in and fired a blast from his mouth that caught Gohan by surprise and he blocked it with his arms crossed in front of him. Piccolo put two fingers to his head and shot a Special Beam Cannon right afterwards that Gohan deflected to the air and scoffed at how aggressive he was acting.

"No strategy, no organization to this at all. They're just blindly attacking for no reason," Gohan noted and powered up even more, tapping into the deep well of his unlocked potential he had been maintaining through his balance of training and scholarly duties, something he credited Piccolo with helping him for many years, both as a means to keep himself from losing his fighting edge but also to help Piccolo increase his strength and fighting ability. This unorthodox method he was using to fight betrayed all of this and Gohan felt frustrated that this "Tsufurian" that has infected Piccolo is insulting his pride by fighting in such a sloppy manner.

Gohan landed precise blows that would've knocked Piccolo out cold but the Namekian simply laughed it off and Gohan gasped a bit.

Off in the distance, Tundra could be heard laughing.

"Having trouble with them, are you?" he called out to Gohan and Goku and Trunks glanced over.

"Chance!" Glacial called, firing a beam from her finger at Goku, who deflected it away with the back of his hand, glaring at them.

"Stop tryin' to take advantage of my blind spot, it ain't gonna work," he told them and Glacial shrugged her shoulders. Tundra and Glacial nodded at each other and synchronized an intense sonic vibration that showered both Goku and Trunks, causing them to shield their ears.

"Dammit, they can't let us get anywhere near them!" Trunks yelled, crying out from the pain of the intense vibration and Goku growled, then exploded in his Super Saiyan aura, screaming at them. Trunks did the same and they both charged at the two androids. Trunks went after Glacial while Goku tackled Tundra and the two began fighting it out, trading blows that were easily blocked. Glacial was chuckling as she was blocking and exchanging punches with Trunks and he leered at her as they were fighting.

"What's so funny?" he asked but Glacial continued giggling as she was fighting him. _She's mocking us as she's fighting us!_

Trunks flew to gain some distance and fired off a few rapid energy blasts at Glacial, who weaved her way gracefully through the energy attacks with her hands behind her back, humming and giggling and she moved in a high-speed burst to appear in front of him, tapping him on the nose with a grin on her face. Flustered, Trunks went in for a right hook but was met in the gut with a knee from Glacial, causing him to gasp and she sent him flying down to the ground with her tail.

"Trunks!" Goku yelled and caught a fist from Tundra before rocking him with a flurry of punches that knocked him flying back and he rushed over to Trunks.

"Trunks! Are you alright?" he cried as Trunks slowly got to his feet, dusting himself off.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it wasn't a heavy hit. She's very nimble and will play with your head if you're not careful," Trunks wanted to be sure Goku knew what he was fighting despite taking a hit from those androids and he stared back up at them.

"Trunks, do you and Goten still remember fusion?" Goku asked as he stared back up at them.

"Yeah, it's basically second-nature to us now. I was hoping we didn't have to resort to fusion because I don't want this area to be hit so hard from all the fighting. Gotenks can be pretty rough when we put our all into it."

Goku nodded. "I'll buy you and Goten enough time."

Trunks quickly flew up to join Goten and Gohan. He stopped a fist from Tien and both he and Goten kicked him back hard in the gut but all Tien did in response to the blow was laugh it off.

"What do you say we have Gotenks handle those androids?" Trunks said with a grin on his face, pointing behind him at the androids Goku was engaging with after he took to the air again.

"Fusion would reduce our numbers by one but I think prioritizing those androids are more important," Gohan stated and the two younger Saiyans nodded together, flying down to land on the ground.

"Feeling confident now, Trunks?" Goten asked as he took up his side of the pose, hands raised a specific angle.

"Yeah, lets kick their butts," Trunks responded, mirroring Goten's pose on the opposite side.

"FU~" they both said in unison, two voices speaking together as one.

"SION!" they continued as they stepped towards each other, staring ahead, readying their hands to touch.

"HA!" they shouted as their fingers each tapped against the other. The angles were perfectly symmetrical and the fingers touched where they should as was expected of a successful Metamoran fusion dance. The two went through their movements, symmetrical and perfect as it has always been since they were younger and their forms joined together in a bright flash of light that changed them and merged them as one. Gotenks appeared where the two boys once were and he flashed a victory sign with his right hand.

"Da da da daaaa! Gotenks makes his trumphant return!"

 **Making quick work…**

Cooler saw a structure on top of a rock spire ahead, the spire wide enough to incorporate not only the structure on top of it but at least three or four of the same size, given how much surface it covered. He saw what was left of Neiz's body: charred and deformed. He scoffed at the body and flew over to the spire. After he landed, he walked over to the structure and charged an energy blast in his right hand.

"I'll give you to the count of three to come out here with the Dragonball! One…"

He waited a few seconds and no one showed up. Irritated, he breathed a huge sigh.

"TwoThree," he said in rapid succession and fired the energy blast that obliterated the building in front of him. His eyes focused on the smoke as it cleared and he was a bit surprised to see that no one was inside.

He muttered under his breath and walked over to the destroyed surface, scanning the floor. He saw the shape of a trap door and shoved it off with his foot, exposing a hole in the ground. A grin appeared on his face.

"Clever, creating a hole to hide the Dragonball. Seems these Namekians learned from their tragic history. Shame this one was the only smart one."

He fired an energy blast into the hole and it blew away the spire. He took to the air as it crumbled to the ground and saw a trio of Namekians fly off from the bottom, the one in the middle holding the Dragonball he sought. He made a high-speed burst to reappear in front of the three and frowned at them.

"It's no use trying to hide the Dragonball from me. Hand it over and I might spare you."

"We will never hand it over to the likes of you! No begone!" Harp, the Namekian to the left of the one holding the Dragonball shouted at him. Cooler disappeared and reappeared behind Harp with his hand outstretched and before he realized what had happened, Harp's head rolled off his upper body and fell to the ground, the look of shock etched on his face as the other two Namekians froze.

"Grand Elder, get away from here, as fast as you can! I'll do what I can to hold him off!" the stout, taller Namekian shouted and the Grand Elder powered up to take to the air. Cooler aimed a finger at the younger looking Elder and the other Namekian charged in for an attack. Cooler quickly grabbed him by the neck and held him in the air. It was clear that Cooler stood several inches taller than the Namekian, even though these Namekian warrior types were quite tall themselves and he was gasping for breath as Cooler tightened his grip on the warrior's throat.

"Please, spare the Grand Elder…" the Namekian gasped, his voice getting raspier.

"Oh? Do tell me. I need a good reason since my patience is nearly depleted."

"If you kill him, the Dragonballs…" he gasped, trying to take in any air he could and Cooler lifted an eyebrow.

"The Dragonballs…will…no longer…work…" his eyes were rolling to the back of his head as his face turned blue and Cooler's eyes widened a bit, dropping him.

"Is that so…"

He gazed up at the Grand Elder, who was still frantically flying away and he put his foot down on the Namekian's throat. Glancing down, he stomped down on the throat, crushing it completely and severing the Namekian's flow of oxygen. He then took to the air and flew past the Grand Elder, stopping just above him.

"I commend your warriors for besting some of my top armored squadron but forcing my hand in this matter was a foolish move on your part, Mr. Grand Elder," Cooler spoke calmly as he stared down at him, arms crossed. The Grand Elder held onto the Dragonball tightly against his chest, shaking as his lip and breath quivered. Cooler extended his hand, palm facing up.

"Take it, please! Don't kill any more of my people, I beg you! Just summon Porunga and get your wishes, but please, spare us!" the Grand Elder cried, tears streaming down his face as he thrust the Dragonball forward towards Cooler, who snatched it in his hand, sneering down at him.

"Pathetic. That the noble race of the Namekians would be reduced to simpering buffoons begging for mercy. Look down at the garbage littering your planet before you and ask yourself if mercy is really something I care about?"

The Grand Elder didn't want to see the dead bodies of his guards, warriors he knew very well in the years that he ascended to the status of Grand Elder when Muri was given the title from the old Grand Elder, during a time when Freeza was first wreaking havoc on their old planet. He wished he had the same fortitude as Muri did when he protected him, Cargo, and Dende but staring into those blood-red eyes of Cooler, giving him a look that was far more deadly than the one Freeza gave them and he gritted his teeth, fighting back sobs. Cooler brought the Dragonball up to his face and examined it carefully.

"Tell me, is it true that you can only summon this dragon and make your wishes in your native language? Answer me, twerp!" he yelled and Esca was surprised that Cooler was still floating there in front of him, holding the Dragonball. He had sincerely hoped that he would've left and that Esca would pray to any of the gods listening out there to spare the planet and that these monsters would finally leave. Cooler could pierce his soul with that ice-like stare of his and Esca's hands were shaking as he brought them up to explain himself.

"Th-that's co-correct. P-Porunga can only grant your wish if you s-s-speak our l-language. B-b-but if you've killed all of us, th-there won't be an-n-yone available to make your w-wish for you."

"Your stuttering is an earsore," Cooler said but smiled at the Dragonball as he glanced over at Esca. "However, it doesn't matter how many of you are left, I have someone to make the wishes for me. Consider yourself fortunate you get to live long enough due to this lifelink you have to the Dragonballs, otherwise I'd have you entertain me a bit more."

He fired a blast from his finger into Esca's shoulder, making sure not to hit any vital organs and Esca gasped. Cooler fired another beam, piercing his leg and Esca fell down to the ground, landing beside a headless Harp and he gasped as he saw the corpse up close, his eyes staring into those of the severed head and he wanted to scream, not only out of pain but out of the horrific sight. Cooler landed in front of him and grabbed his robes, lifting him off the ground.

"I can't have you running off on me. I'm making you my 'backup' in case something was to happen," he said, grinning down at him and he held him to his side as he flew back to his ship.

When he entered, he tossed Esca onto the floor and placed the Dragonball beside the other four, sitting back down on his hover chair and breathing a sigh.

"What a waste of time that was. Bonyu, take a squad with you to retrieve the last two, I want them back here immediately!" he commanded and the plump red-skinned woman bowed at him, hand to her breastplate.

"It will be done, Lord Cooler!" she cried and waved a few soldiers forward, the group running out of the main deck and out of the ship. Freeza clapped as he approached Cooler and got a dirty look from his older brother.

"Wonderful, I'd expect nothing less from my elder sibling!" Freeza said with a mocking smile and Cooler glared at him maliciously. He stopped in front of Esca and leered down at him.

"What have you brought with you? A new pet?"

"He's this planet's 'Grand Elder', or so they say. Kill him and the Dragonballs become useless," Cooler said nonchalantly and Freeza grinned.

"I see. I remember a time when even I had to spare a Grand Elder before. And look how sloppy you were with this one, injuring the poor lad."

Esca tried to crawl away but the pain in his leg was too much to bear and he frantically looked around, his face pale and wet with the tears he had been shedding. _Goku, please! Please come! Come save us, Goku!_

 **Another visit…**

Esca's thoughts echoed throughout the aether of space as Whis's ear twitched a bit, causing him to glance to his right. He put a finger to his chin and examined the tip of his staff and blinked as he saw Namek come into view and the chaos that was ensuing on the planet's surface.

"Hm, these Namekians can't seem to catch a break, can they?" he muttered to himself and the image faded away. As much as there was disarray on Namek, all Whis could do was observe casually the goings on of the universe and if Lord Beerus wished it, he would've went and destroyed Namek without a second thought and go back to eating more of Lemo's cooking, a habit he had grown fond of the moment he tasted it. His mouth salivated each time he smelled the delicious aromas of the seafood dishes like a subconscious reaction. Whis could see that the Destroyer was still eating and he walked over to him as he stuffed a large roasted fish down his mouth, cleaning off its bones completely. He tossed it aside and drew a sour face from Whis before he stood behind the window.

"I could taste each herb and spice individually in that fish, Whis, it was heavenly. Hm?" he paused, stared down, and snarled at the two figures standing on the grassy terrain.

"What are _they_ doing back here?!" he shouted and burst out of the antechamber and landed on the grass.

"Hey! What gives you two?! I thought you had scrammed off to your Universe for good!" he shouted and Whis noticed that Barbon and Cae were standing before them when he landed. He glanced over at Vegeta meditating on top of a thin pole. His feet were perched on the tip of it and his hands were placed together in a fashion that gave him balance on the pole.

"Forgive us, Lord Beerus. We are here at the request of the Grand Minister himself, at the behest of Lady Marcarita," Cae informed them as he bowed formally at him. Barbon had a grim look on his face but bowed formally to Beerus and Whis anyway. Whis eyed them curiously and spotted the crystals hanging around their necks, tapping his chin with his finger.

"Cloaking Crystals, how strange. Why would my sister have you wear those?" Whis asked them.

"She said it was necessary to prevent Kelerot from detecting us," Cae told them.

"Who was he again?" Beerus asked.

"The Gardenian from their universe, my Lord," Whis quickly filled him in and Beerus cocked an eyebrow.

"Ah right, the delver. What does that have to do with you two wearing Cloaking Crystals, though?" he asked them, hands behind his back. He was glaring at them cautiously, annoyed that those crystals were masking their energy completely that not even he nor Whis could sense them. They were hiding in plain sight right under their noses and it was irritating Beerus at a growing rate.

"Remind me to have a word with your sister when this is all done. I don't appreciate seeing people hide out on me like this. It makes my ear itch knowing that I can both see and not see these two idiots in front of me." By reflex, he scratched the inside of his ear with his finger and flicked away any ear wax he might have built up.

"Kelerot has mastered the Hakai technique, my Lord," Cae flat out told him and Beerus's face darkened, glaring at him and at Barbon.

"He's become a very dangerous being now, able to both teleport and destroy at a moment's notice," Barbon chimed in and Beerus gave him a look that even made him a bit nettled. Barbon cleared his throat and stood with his hands behind his back as well.

"That still doesn't explain why you've been sent to my planet. Give me one good reason why I don't make up my mind and destroy the both of you for being a nuisance."

Cae swallowed, trying to avert his gaze at Beerus but the Destroyer's look was transfixed on the Kai no matter what and he gave Barbon a look before breathing a sigh, trying to calm himself down. Beerus, as ancient as they come among the destroyer gods, could wait centuries for an explanation before he decided what he wanted to do to you afterwards, regardless whether your explanation was convincing enough but Cae's next words threw him off course rather quickly.

"We are here because the Network of Fates deemed it necessary," he said and Beerus's eyes widened a bit, a cold sweat forming on his brow. He swallowed and turned around, walking back up to his antechamber without saying another word, flying back up.

"Goodness," Cae muttered, feeling a shiver run down his spine. Barbon looked uneasy as he had never seen Beerus react in such a way. Whis sighed, rubbing his right temple.

"Of all the things I expected to hear unravel Lord Beerus, mentioning the Network wasn't one of them," Whis looked back over and stared at Beerus as he calmly entered his antechamber, disappearing from sight. "Nothing makes him more unsettled than not knowing his own fate. Uncertainty about one's own fate can rattle any Destroyer."

"And this does not bother you as much, Whis?" Cae asked and Whis chuckled.

"Me? Of course not. I couldn't care less what fate has decided for me. I quite admire the uncertainty of the future and the many challenges it brings. It helps keep things interesting and keeps Lord Beerus on his toes when it comes down to it."

"Your enthusiasm is encouraging," Barbon smiled for the first time in a while. The presence of an angel was always comforting to him, giving him the opportunity to speak on a higher intellectual level and he glanced over at Vegeta, who was as still as a stone.

"Such dedication to his training," Barbon noted about Vegeta and Whis hummed.

"Honing some of his more recent acquisitions over the years. He's balanced a lot of his spiritual and deific energies to give him strength on par with Lord Beerus now. He's come such a long way from the mortal we first laid eyes on, the differences are much like night and day at this point."

"Remarkable," Barbon said and spotted a large rock to sit own. Whis produced a tea set from his staff and poured a cup for both Barbon and Cae.

"Well, since I am such a graceful host, allow me to offer you some of Earth's finest beverages to melt your stress away," he spoke cheerfully and Cae could smell the herbal aroma coming from the pot.

"I can only hope that Vegeta over there is powerful enough to handle Kelerot. According to our information given by Lady Marcarita, he is the key to a far greater plan. He has to be the one to defeat Kelerot in battle or all will fall into chaos, according to Awamo of the First Universe."

Whis paused before he poured Cae's cup, staring down at it. A frown creased his lips but it was only for a moment before he resumed pouring the tea into his cup and passing it along to him with that same cheery disposition again. When he handed the other filled cup to Barbon, he sat down on a stool he made for himself and poured himself a cup.

"Afternoon tea with the gods, what more could be said?" he sipped his tea and sighed happily at the flavor that slid along his tongue like silk and both Cae and Barbon were equally impressed by how good it tasted.

"Goodness, this almost puts Gowasu's tea to shame," Cae said, almost chuckling when he said it.

"Oh tell me about it. Iwen and Anat constantly boast they'll brew the best blend in the multiverse to topple Gowasu but they haven't been successful as of yet," Whis said with a snicker.

"Those two have the weirdest blend ideas imaginable. I wonder what they will try and create next?" Cae couldn't help but glance a few times up where Beerus flew to and wondered if his words had hurt the Destroyer in any way. He'd had to apologize profusely when he saw him next and Whis set his cup down.

"When you mention that Vegeta has to be the one to defeat Kelerot, are you implying that Jiren won't be strong enough?" Whis asked, staring at Cae.

"I don't know the specifics behind it. I can't be certain whether this means Kelerot will defeat Jiren or he escapes and tries to track us down. All we have for information is that he is to fight Vegeta and Vegeta has to win that fight."

"I'm not very fond of this idea the Network's conjured up. It sounds awfully specific for such a trivial thing. I find it fascinating that father hasn't notified the Omni Kings of this delver and petition to have him destroyed. Is this greater plan that important?"

Cae closed his eyes, frowning. His hand shook a bit holding his cup but he took a deep breath before taking another sip, or rather he downed the rest of the tea completely and set his cup down awkwardly on the saucer.

"It is. According to Lady Marcarita, Awamo's face said it all. She's known Awamo longer than any of you have and she's never seen him show fear until recently. Something is coming, Whis, something dreadful and we can only put our faith in the validity of the Network to see this through."

It took a lot of courage for Cae to utter that before standing up and walking away. Barbon stared down at the liquid in his cup and set it down on the saucer.

"Forgive us, Whis. We need a bit of a walk to clear our heads. I think it would be best for us at this time if you don't mention any of this to Vegeta. We can't have him lose focus if he has to fight Kelerot. His desire to fight him has to come naturally."

Barbon stood up and walked over to Cae as the angel stared at the two, silently. "It might be for the best, indeed."


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25 – "One last stand above all else! Last of the Pride Troopers versus the Master of Gravity."**

 **The battleground of Universe 11…**

Kelerot and Jiren battled fiercely on planet Pots, neither gaining an advantage over the other in the initial stages of their fight. They were on equal terrain in terms of their strength for the moment and their movement was so fast that not even the best trained eye kept up with the two blurs that moved around the planet. They circled countless times as their punches came close to connecting with one another, each blocked by the other.

Jiren was the first to break the deadlock as he rocked Kelerot with a punch against his tight defense that sent him flying back to a cliff face and he crashed through it. He recovered quickly and made a high-speed burst out of the rubble and appeared above Jiren with a punch that Jiren grabbed with his hand. He threw Kelerot to the ground but Kelerot planted his feet and moved his arm to throw Jiren off of him, staring back at him.

Jiren flipped a few times before he landed. He propelled himself back to the air and the two moved with rapid high-speed bursts across the landscape. When their punches would connect with each other, their energy alone was powerful enough to destroy a considerable amount of terrain.

Their energy had been so catastrophic that the mere impact of their punches colliding with each other tore the planet apart, blowing away sections of the planet large enough to expose the planet's inner layers. Their blows continued to affect the core until the planet itself became too unstable to fight on. Kelerot led Jiren away from the planet, channeling enough power to move at a fast enough speed to negate the vacuum of space as he travelled to the nearest planet to continue his fight.

Planet Pots, left in its devastating wake, collapsed on itself and exploded as a result of the irreparable damage the fighting had caused it. They flew through space until they reached planet Kolandar and resumed their fight there.

Kolandar was a world that the Pride Troopers won several of their first missions on. There was a radical group of miscreants that terrorized the citizens by stealing their resources, often used for trading with other civilized worlds. Their emeralds were the pride and joy of their commerce, harvesting them off the mountain in the distance, still seen in the background as Kelerot and Jiren were fighting. Unfortunately, despite its beautiful sheen the green gems gave off from the mountainside, Kolandar quickly succumbed to the damage their fight was causing and it suffered the same fate as Pots.

Planet Skillay was known mostly for sharing racial relations with Zoiray's ancestors and blood relatives, the inhabitants of the world sharing similar features yet their skin tone was of a lighter complexion than Zoiray's. He would often take shore leave time on this planet to visit some close friends he had come to know over the years after Toppo and Kunshi helped him rescue several hundred villagers trapped under an avalanche. Zoiray, Toppo, and Kunshi were able to rescue most of the villagers but regretted that there were only a handful unaccounted for, lost under the rubble. He would visit the planet once a year to pay his respects and give a few gifts to the village elders, food baskets that contained fruits, cheeses, and freshly baked buns that Cocotte made for them, a recipe she loved making most of all.

It too was destroyed during the fight.

Planet Dens was Warden Kutlerie's home planet, a frontier world that had a quiet civilization that had never seen an ounce of conflict or strife from anyone. Much of the planet had a steady yet simple evolutionary development to it with many of the cities bearing simple technology that sustained their daily function. What did stand out the most about this planet that brought much interest to the Pride Troopers were their trees. The quality of wood that these trees possessed made for amazing furniture, such as an elegant desk that Toppo had built for himself in his office at the Pride Trooper HQ back on Netfiss. Dyspo would polish and clean it every day before his lunch break after Toppo had left to become the new Destroyer. Dyspo always bragged how much he loved that desk and admired his reflection off the surface and chewed out anyone who dared lay a single digit on its surface. He was so protective of it that when he caught Tupper's fingers smudging the surface, he refused to speak to him for three days. Tupper begged for forgiveness and offered to clean the desk in his stead for each day that Dyspo refused to talk to him. It will sadly remain uncleaned and unpolished in Toppo's office now, forced to collect dusk as the HQ on Netfiss became eerily quiet with no one in the building to operate it.

Dens too suffered at the hands of the battle between Kelerot and Jiren.

Kelerot leered at Jiren as their fight progressed, wondering whether they were going to find a planet durable enough for them to battle on without destroying it outright. He found a dwarf planet that was barren of life yet had an atmosphere that could support it. When they landed on the surface, Kelerot caught Jiren's fist and stared at him, holding his hand in place. Jiren grunted as he pulled his hand free and stared at him.

"That you would escalate this to the point where we destroyed planets only adds to the injustice you've committed to this universe," he told him and Kelerot blinked in surprise.

"So you have been paying attention to each planet we battled on. I thought your muscle-brain was too wrapped up to notice the bystanders that got caught in the chaos," Kelerot stated and Jiren glanced out at the atmosphere above them.

"Don't think for a moment you assume I care so little about the innocent life caught in the crossfire. When I've brought you down and into custody, I will do what I can to repair the damage. I am all that stands in the way of you destroying this Universe completely."

"Is that so?" Kelerot said, hands on his hips. He knelt down and touched the surface of the planet and closed his eyes. Grinning, he opened them, feeling the texture of the soil along his hand, and stood back up.

"A planet of Kachitite. Fascinating. An asteroid would collide with this planet and it would still persist with little damage. Our fight can resume here to our heart's content without damaging the planet too much. Unless you had a different location in mind? The world of void, for instance?"

Jiren's eyes widened a bit. "How do you know of the world of void?"

He never spoke much of the Tournament of Power and the world of void to anyone other than those who had been a part of it. He kept much of those fights to himself as a personal reminder to continue his training to become strong enough to fight Goku again and test his Ultra Instinct once more.

"I have my ways," Kelerot told him, grinning a bit. "Your mind reads like an open book. Your memories are as plain to see as the rocks to the right of you," Kelerot motioned to a quarry of large boulders several feet away and he fired a small energy ball of destruction that vaporized them completely.

"The power to reach into your deepest consciousness is the same power that gave me the form of a Destroyer, mixed in with the power and wisdom of a Supreme Kai. I have all the power I need now to take you down and seek out Toppo so I can avenge myself and my people for what he did. Though I do not see the world of void as an ideal grave for one such as you."

Jiren glared at him. He felt a revolting sickness in the pit of his stomach that elevated his anger towards Kelerot. Kelerot merely adopted a casual pose with his hands behind his back and raised an eyebrow.

"You're angry at me, I can see that plainly on your face. You don't have many expressions that define the person you are, but your heart is in the right place."

The ground began to shake around the two as Jiren's power continued to soar even higher and Kelerot moved his hands to his side, standing ready to engage him again.

"The stubbornness you show me is no different than Goku's or Vegeta's from the seventh universe. Saiyans, though remarkable, are foolish creatures that dishonor true justice with their 'strength'. You've grown strong, but you've tainted your strength with your evil ambition for revenge that will never be satiated."

"Again with your talk of 'justice'. This is what 'justice' looks like to me now," Kelerot said, and he took on a pose that Jiren recognized and his eyes widened a bit.

"That's Kahseral's pose," he growled and clenched his fists.

"Not impressed? How about this pose? What about this one?" Kelerot said and he mimicked the poses of each of the Pride Troopers, even Toppo's and Jiren's hands began to shake.

"How DARE you insult the Pride Troopers with those poses! They are sacred to us and us alone!" he screamed and charged at Kelerot, who grinned a bit. He blocked an incoming strike but the force of the impact sent him flying back and Kelerot had to correct himself before he crashed into another cliff face. He planted his hands and feet against the surface and moved out of the way before Jiren could hit him, destroying the plateau with his fist alone as Kelerot flew to the air. He spun around and darted straight down at Jiren to attack with a punch that Jiren blocked with his hand. He clutched Kelerot's fist and slammed him against the ground but Kelerot made quick movements to bring his feet up to kick Jiren in the face, which was also blocked by his other hand.

Freeing himself from Jiren's grasp, Kelerot gained some distance but Jiren was right on top of him, not giving him the time to pause. He moved quickly to overwhelm Kelerot and put the pressure on him in the hopes to knock him unconscious. He also struggled against the growing rage at what Kelerot did to the Pride Troopers, subduing his urge to give in to the impulse for revenge like Kelerot had.

One of his goals in joining the Pride Troopers was to prevent future incidents like his from happening so that no one else would seek revenge. He learned and developed his sense of justice and righteousness from someone he originally considered a comrade in arms but grew to consider him a good friend in Toppo. If he had not taken up the mantle of Destroyer and changed his name to Barbon, he would've fought alongside his fellow Troopers to the end, maybe handled the threat of this individual when it was necessary. If Toppo hadn't ascended, Kelerot would not have gained this power when he did. It was something that when he thought about it, it made him smile for a moment since the irony wasn't lost on him.

Their fists moved in such a motion that blurs replaced their arms and they were both blocking and deflecting each other's attempts to hit the other.

"You fight remarkably well for a criminal. I'm surprised you haven't tapped into Ultra Instinct like Goku once did." Since Kelerot seemed to know of Jiren's memories of the world of void, he deduced that he might've known about his fight with Goku and this "Ultra Instinct" that had given him the most difficulty.

"Can't blame a man for trying, though," Kelerot said. _I should've poked more at Goku about that technique._

That thought brought a smile to Kelerot's face and Jiren leered at him a moment.

"After I've killed you, I should use this 'Ultra Instinct' as a bargaining chip with Goku so he could teach it to me."

"Your murderous spree ends with me," Jiren replied and Kelerot grabbed him by the wrists, stopping their exchange of punches.

"No. The only way this ends is over one of our dead bodies," Kelerot said and kept his hands firmly clutched onto Jiren's massive arms. "Abandon that smug sense of justice you cling so much to and make use of that power of yours. You have the strength to destroy this universe yet you refuse. You won't cut loose when it's needed. Though there was a moment from your memory where your anger did push you to almost killing Goku's friends."

Kelerot let go of Jiren's arms and he stared at him.

"I made a lapse of judgment that I regretted. It was uncalled for."

"You have a power that rivals the gods, surely you haven't thought about how that makes them sweat a little?" Kelerot asked. Jiren clenched a fist and glanced down at it.

"We train ourselves to refrain from taking our power for granted."

"Until our hand is forced and our 'power' is all that we have going for us to correct a grievous error," Kelerot said and took a fighting pose like the Pride Troopers again and Jiren glared at him.

"It's clear to me that I haven't been pushing your buttons hard enough. I want to make use of that power of yours to see how high you really can go," Kelerot shook his hands a bit.

"Forgive me for making this look a bit sloppy, I only recently delved them," he said and thrust his hands forward, enveloping Jiren with an energy dome.

"This is Cocotte's energy barrier," Jiren muttered and with a flash of his eyes, he shattered the barrier completely. Kelerot grinned a bit, then moved his hands around to create a network of energy vines that resembled Kunshi's. Jiren easily dismantled it with a swipe from his arm and his frown grew.

"Why do you insist on using the Pride Troopers attacks on me knowing they won't work?" he asked and Kelerot cracked his knuckles.

"Why not?" Kelerot simply said and took up Kahseral's pose, forming an energy sphere in his right hand. He burst forth from the ground and threw the sphere at Jiren, who deflected it away with his hand. He spun around to catch an energy blade that Kelerot formed in his hand and Kelerot grinned down at him.

"Wonderful."

"You're not taking this fight seriously anymore," Jiren told him and crushed the energy blade in his hands. Kelerot took a few hops backward to gain some distance and did a few short jumps on his feet before he took up Tupper's fighting pose, stunning Jiren a moment. Then he switched to Vuon's.

"I have, however, had many years getting to know these two in particular and practicing their techniques. It's a shame they died when they did because they too saw the warden's true nature."

Kelerot built up energy in his hand and with his other, he 'stretched' the energy out to make it look like a rope or a whip of some sort. Jiren focused on the energy whip but Kelerot moved with a burst of speed that he appeared beside him and brought the energy whip down to wrap itself around Jiren's leg. He then spun his body around rapidly to wind up the energy whip and it threw Jiren into the air. Kelerot moved in a high-speed burst to reappear above Jiren and began striking him with the energy whip, disappearing and reappearing around him to strike with the energy whip in rapid succession, each strike fast and heavy. Because the energy thread was so small and precise, it made blocking it a bit tedious for Jiren, who couldn't grab it but brought his arms up to block them, which were tearing away at the fabric of his uniform. Kelerot flew around, teleporting using Cae's kai-kai technique to strike at Jiren, tearing strips and causing a few cuts to start showing themselves on his arms.

Jiren waited for a moment, then moved to grab Kelerot's arm that he was using to whip him with and he rocked him hard in the face with a punch while still holding onto his forearm, throwing him down afterwards. He crashed into the ground and Jiren landed behind him.

Kelerot glanced up and avoided a stomp from him with a burst of speed before the foot came down and it struck the ground. He flickered around Jiren with short, high intensity speed bursts that left afterimage blurs, some so fast that even the afterimages had a more faded afterimage from the previous one. Each time Kelerot appeared, he wrapped an energy ring around Jiren, trapping him with several of them.

Kelerot appeared behind Jiren and whispered in his ear before he disappeared again: "Finish."

Jiren's eyes widened a bit as the rings exploded and Kelerot appeared in front of the smoke and debris the explosion coughed up, waiting for the smoke to clear. When it cleared up, he saw that a large chunk of fabric was gone, exposing Jiren's upper body, right shoulder, and entire right arm. He examined his arm for a moment.

"Out of all the Pride Troopers, I found Dyspo the most…fascinating. Never has a destruction felt so satisfying to me."

Glaring hard at Kelerot, Jiren tore off the rest of the upper half of his uniform, exposing his ripped physique. He discarded the white gloves and charged energy into his hand, forming an orange energy ball.

"It's over," he said and let out a mighty roar as the energy pulsated around his hand, wave upon wave of powerful energy diverged into the energy ball as he aimed it at Kelerot, who stared up at it defiantly. He narrowed his eyes, waiting for the energy to be unleashed and Jiren fired it full-on, the ball of energy barreling down at incredible speed towards Kelerot, who had no time to think of a means to escape it. He built up his own power and a purple aura surrounded him.

"If I don't destroy this, we'll have to find another planet to fight on," he said and extended his hand out towards the ball of energy. He only had a fraction of a second to wait as his hand caught the large energy ball and he cried out, trying to destroy it with the Hakai technique. He brought his other hand towards it and put more force behind the Destruction energy that was making the energy ball shrink while pushing against him. Kelerot's feet were being dragged into the dirt as the ball pushed back against him and Jiren kept his hand out, putting more of his own power behind it to push down on Kelerot.

Each one was trying to outdo the other. Both men roared as they put a great deal of power into this collision of energy and it was having devastating effects on the surrounding systems as raw energy seeped out and travelled across the universe. A nearby planet was overtaken by the vibration and intensity of the wave, breaking down into smaller pieces before it collapsed and exploded. Several more planets suffered the same fate, some deviated off their axis and left its orbit around its star, one sent on a collision course with an inhabited planet and the two crashed together, annihilating one another.

Kelerot and Jiren were too focused on their clash to even notice the effect their energy was having on planetary systems that they hadn't stopped to consider what their fight was doing to the rest of the universe. Both had a singular goal and would stop at nothing to achieve it.

One more shout and Kelerot put forth a surge of power to amplify the Hakai and the purple sphere enveloped Jiren's energy ball and it was flying up towards him. Jiren belted out another roar and managed to kick the destruction sphere out of his way and out into orbit, far away from the planet and he glared down at Kelerot, who was calmly staring back at him.

"This fight completely eclipses the one we had previously. That I'm able to push you this far shows why it was a wise decision to acquire Toppo and Cae's power through delving them."

"Then you're a dishonorable coward and will be branded as such!" Jiren didn't mince words when he expressed the disgust in that delving technique Kelerot used. It was getting irksome to him hearing this criminal spout off how proud he sounded about acquiring power that wasn't his to begin with and he charged up another ball of energy in his hand.

"It's also unfortunate that you won't be successful twice!" he shouted and immediately went on the offensive, diving down to attack Kelerot with the energy ball, smaller in size but carrying just as much power as the first one he conjured. Kelerot gritted his teeth and flared up the destroyer energy around him and batted Jiren's hand away, sending the energy flying out from his palm and the two began trading blows that were blocked once more. Jiren gained the upper hand and slammed Kelerot to the ground hard enough to make him bounce and on the rebound he kicked him to another nearby plateau, this time actually having some impact. He followed it up with a flurry of fists that were flying at him, punching at him so fast that it looked like his arms weren't moving but they were vibrating at a speed no one was able to decipher. It forced Kelerot to throw up a makeshift energy barrier that kept most of the damage from hitting him directly and he grunted, feeling overwhelmed from the insane barrage Jiren's fists were making. _Damned if I'm letting this take me out!_

He began firing small destruction energy spheres back at Jiren, each sphere exploding on contact and he amplified the attack with hundreds more, thousands more that were blowing back against him. Kelerot saw an opening to get out of the barrage and made a high speed burst to appear in different locations to throw Jiren off and appeared above him, aiming another Hakai at him but Jiren countered it with another explosive burst of light from his eyes that Kelerot quickly dodged and flipped backwards to land in front of him and he went on the offensive, propelling himself off the ground to aim a punch at Jiren, screaming as he put a lot of power behind it. Jiren caught it and Kelerot's eyes widened a bit.

"I told you, you won't be successful twice," he said and aimed another energy sphere point blank at Kelerot, and it struck him on the front, sending him soaring to the air.

"It's over," Jiren said as he crossed his arms. He watched the explosion take place and closed his eyes.

"Not until I say it is," Kelerot whispered behind him and Jiren gasped in shock. Kelerot hit him with Jiren's own energy sphere attack from behind him and sent him screaming into the same plateau Jiren had him pinned to earlier, colliding face first into the surface. Kelerot rubbed his arms and shoulders for a moment, taking this time to steady his breathing and Jiren's aura flared wildly, causing that plateau to be obliterated into pieces that flew everywhere. Jiren spun around and glared at Kelerot.

"You're still not there yet. Mark my words, I will make you hate me so much that seeing me dead will be the _only_ recourse for you!"

"Never! I will _never_ be pushed to that extent! Not by the likes of you or anyone!" Jiren roared and Kelerot frowned, staring at him intently, then a smile crossed his lips.

"Not by me or anyone, eh?" Kelerot said and he closed his eyes. He brought from his memory one of the early techniques he had delved from another inmate, the shapeshifting technique he acquired to conceal himself while he was on the lam from the Pride Troopers on Netfiss several days ago. His body began to shift and a strange light surrounded him. As his body began to morph into a different person starting from the bottom up, Jiren's face contorted from anger to slight panic as he recognized the form Kelerot was shifting into.

"Not even from this?" Kelerot said but made his voice much deeper and more menacing, as though the deep black abyss of space had a voice to it.

Jiren had seared this very face to the deepest recesses of his memory, the demonic creature that slaughtered his people and took the life of his mentor. Kelerot accessed Jiren's most repressed memories when he had delved him during this second go around, making sure this time to access all of what made Jiren the titan of the cosmos that he really was. He reached deep into those memories Jiren kept locked away, reminding himself of why he chose the path of a warrior and not to swear revenge. A memory that was only for him and him alone of what he swore he'd dedicate his life to. Very few people ever knew of the tragic past Jiren had lived save for Belmod the old Destroyer and Barbon the current Destroyer. He confided to Barbon his wishes to join the Pride Troopers out of an obligation to protect the weak and ensure that the tragedy he faced would never be repeated onto others so long as he lived.

The painful sight of seeing this demon's face once more in front of him sent shivers down his spine but also made his blood erupt and his whole body was shaking in a rage he hadn't felt in years, not since he had to be painfully reminded of his inability to prove his absolute strength in the presence of Goku during the Tournament of Power.

He remembered back to when he was first training under Gicchin that his old mentor described the beast that slaughtered his people.

 _Most stories your papa would tell you before he tucked you in bed would describe a monster who stood many times taller than the average man. He'd pierce your very soul with those eyes of his, those dark crimson eyes. Yeah, those eyes were always the ones I remembered the most when I saw him. His skin was like molten rock with glowing magma-like veins. His face was covered with small horns that protruded along his jawline with two large horns on top of his head. He was every bit of the devil in ancient stories of our universe and he came for one reason only: to slaughter the innocent and kill without remorse, an entity to rival the God of Destruction._

 _There may come a time when he'll seek me out again and take my life, but don't let that discourage you, son. You can be better than that creature, a strong fighter doesn't fight to avenge, nor to prove anything. A strong fighter just does by his own strength and seeks out the meaning behind that strength._

Kelerot, having shifted into this demonic creature from Jiren's memory, stepped forward. Each step slammed into the ground, leaving a large charred footprint as it grinned menacingly down at him.

"I bet it must be frightening for you, seeing this face again," Kelerot said. "The face who slaughtered those you loved dearly and left the bodies piled on the floor in front of you. How this face ripped your father's arms clean off in front of you and left him to bleed on the floor. I don't think you'd want to be reminded of what happened to your mother in this instance."

Jiren had been so focused on training his body and mind to be the absolute pinnacle of limit breaking power that he never thought of a day where he'd see the face of the monster who murdered his kin surface again. He couldn't find the right reaction to this. The more time he spent looking at the face, the more time he forgot that it was Kelerot wearing that face and body like a large exosuit.

"How helpless it must've made you feel, seeing those you thought were your friends abandon you because they were too weak to fight, too weak in spirit to want revenge for the death of Gicchin. I took great pleasure in breaking him spiritually before I sent him to oblivion."

Jiren steeled his nerves and stared back at Kelerot. "I am weak no longer, monster."

"Is that so? Prove it."

Jiren unleashed a powerful aura around him once more and roared. Kelerot stood still and continued to stare him down before Jiren exploded with a high speed move that he hadn't anticipated and was rocked out of his form from the impact, shifting him back to his normal self as he flew back, bouncing and crashing along the ground before he bounced one last time against a rock, ricocheting off of it to collapse on the ground, gasping. Coughing, he stood up and favoured his right shoulder, the side of his face covered in a gash that trickled down.

"All your boasting about your 'delving', all that power you've gained mean nothing against true strength! You are nothing if you only rely on cheap tricks and stolen power!" Jiren bellowed and Kelerot's eyes widened. Jiren stalked his way over to him with a lot of confidence in his stride, surrounded by a flaming liquid red aura.

Kelerot paused for a moment, then he smiled.

Then he started to laugh, stopping Jiren in his tracks.

Kelerot threw his head back and laughed out loud, the most he's ever laughed in his lifetime, which confused Jiren profoundly. He stopped and glared at him. _Why is this bastard laughing?_

"Did you honestly believe that this was all there was to me?!" Kelerot said through snickers, wiping the tears from his eyes. He clenched his fists and stared defiantly back at Jiren.

"I haven't even begun to show you the kind of power I _actually_ wield," he said, calm yet cold and carrying a great deal of sinister malice behind it. Jiren narrowed his eyes, staring at him, wondering what kind of power Kelerot was talking about.

Kelerot closed his eyes and began powering up again. Feet planted firmly on the ground with a wide stance while ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he rotated his arms around in front of him, moving one clockwise starting from the top and the other clockwise as well starting from the bottom. He then switched to counter-clockwise movements and eventually joined his hands together. Gritting his teeth, he focused all of his power in his arms and hands as he brought them together in a prayer fashion but rotated one hand downward so that it was facing the opposite direction.

Sweat beads were trickling down Kelerot's face, the saltiness making a stinging sensation when it touched the open gash but he was too focused on unleashing the technique he was building on to care about the pain. He moved his hands apart from each other while still pointing in opposite directions with the palms facing each other. Then he moved his hands vertically in the direction each one was facing and joined them together again at the wrists on top of each other.

"His power dropped just now," whispered Jiren as he studied Kelerot's technique, wondering what he was about to unleashed.

Kelerot screamed and a powerful wave of energy rocked the whole planet around Jiren as he shielded himself from whatever it was that blew around and through him. A spatial wave distorted everything around them and debris flew around and stopped in place as things settled down once again. Jiren lowered his arms and gasped in shock at what he saw before him.

"What the?! What the hell is this?!" he shouted.

"My most powerful gravity technique. Not as simple as conjuring a black hole out of thin air or anything of that nature. This one is far more complex than you'd realize and if you had damaged me any further, I wouldn't have the energy needed to concentrate enough to pull this off."

Kelerot grinned. He picked up a rock from the ground and threw it. The rock slowed down in mid air and began floating around, confusing Jiren as he watched it.

"One of the first things I discovered I could do while I was in prison was that I could manipulate gravity. It wasn't easy at first as I had difficulty finding the precision behind it. Lots of objects would become too heavy for me to lift and it took all I could to restore the natural gravity of it so I wouldn't get caught by the guards. It was my only means to maintain my sanity in that hellish landscape and the best way for me to train my body.

"Within a couple of months I had a knack for how much gravity I could manipulate in an object and combined with rigorous image training in my prison cell, I could isolate the gravity field in a single object without affecting the gravity around it. I can either increase the weight of anything I lifted or decrease it with an antigravity field. However, it takes a considerable amount of energy control to pull it off correctly otherwise it would backfire on me and possibly kill me as a result.

"I used the training I learned from my master Daikon to focus my power and make use of image training as a secondary ability to train any ability I found useful after I delved the other prisoners. It's amazing what 15 years of prison life can do to the amount of training one puts into this."

Kelerot walked over to the floating rock and walked around it, taking the rock out of the air, holding it in front of Jiren.

"I permanently altered the landscape by creating random pockets of gravity all around, invisible to anyone but me. While some pockets have antigravity such as this; others," he walked over to another spot a couple meters away and threw the rock in front of him, which slammed down and crashed through the surface of the planet at such velocity that neither Jiren nor Kelerot saw it move, "have the opposite effect, possessing a gravity well several times stronger than a supermassive black hole yet isolated within this pocket so that it wouldn't affect the area around it. It would be a shame if you were to step in one of those by accident."

Kelerot grinned as Jiren actually began to look uneasy for once. He gave him a venomous look and Kelerot's eyes lit up.

"Yes, that's the look I've been waiting to see from you. That's the look I want Toppo to see for each year he put me in that prison, and how much I want to pay him back a thousand fold for it!"

Kelerot took up a fighting stance and Jiren clenched his fists.

"Do you honestly expect to win this fight after you've sapped your strength for this?" Jiren asked him and Kelerot grinned.

"Why don't you try hitting me then?" he asked and stood ready. There was a pocket of antigravity between Jiren and himself that he could observe with another pocket of intense gravity not too far off. He could see where the sections were that had been affected by his technique and he observed the landscape so he could be aware of where to navigate to avoid having "gravity mines" affect him as well. If he caught himself in a pocket he created, he'd need to channel a considerable amount of power to neutralize it so he could escape. He kept a confident smile as he stared at Jiren, waiting for him to make a move.

Jiren propelled himself from the ground to fly at Kelerot, firing a few energy blasts at him. Kelerot prepared himself and watched as some of the energy balls slowed down in mid-air and Kelerot moved aside before they moved through the pocket of antigravity to resume their normal speed.

"I see you're testing the area to uncover which spots have been affected. I would expect nothing less from you," Kelerot said, hands on his hips. Jiren frowned and fired a few more energy blasts, some slowed by antigravity, some diving straight down in the intense gravity and Kelerot continued observing him move around.

"You're intending on limiting my movement with this technique, hoping I'd catch myself in one of these," Jiren stated, moving around the pocket where he saw the energy dive down. _It seems to be limited only to the ground. I'll have to take this to the air._

Jiren flew up in the air and Kelerot continued observing him with a smile on his face. When he floated up, he was surprised to see that he caught himself in an antigravity pocket and struggled a bit to move his body out of it, the lack of gravity impeding his ability to propel himself. Kelerot powered up and took to the air, moving with a high speed burst to appear above Jiren and aim a punch down at him.

Jiren was able to move his arms up to block his face, which was where Kelerot was aiming his punch, but his arm movement was slowed down by the pocket of antigravity he was stuck in. Kelerot let out a yell and slammed his fist down on Jiren's arm, but the force behind the impact was far greater than what Jiren was expecting and it knocked him out of the pocket he was in, crashing into the ground. His eyes widened as he stood back up and began to feel numbness in his left arm. He couldn't bring himself to close his hand well enough to form a fist. He grunted, holding his arm and felt the pain shoot up inside to his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he glared up at Kelerot, who landed in front of him.

"How do you still possess this level of strength after your drop of energy?" he asked.

"It should be pretty obvious by now based on what you've seen before you, Jiren," Kelerot said, stalking towards him. "I trained to master all aspects of gravitational control over the past 15 years. I can also manipulate gravity around precise areas of the body to either make them lighter or heavier. Right before I punched you, I significantly increased the amount of gravity behind it to strengthen my punch so the impact would be more destructive. It's a handy way to compensate myself for sacrificing my power. While I regret divulging all of this to you, your death is imminent now that I have the advantage."

"Do you honestly think me a fool if I'm going to die from all this?!" Jiren yelled and built up a powerful energy blast in his good hand. He growled as he worked through the intense pain of his broken forearm and closed his fist, firing the blast at Kelerot. He teleported several feet behind him, reappearing before the energy blast stopped and slammed down on the ground, the gravitational field's intense energy neutralizing Jiren's blast and the large man's eyes widened again.

"What the?"

Kelerot wasn't smiling anymore, staring at him. "I don't take you for a fool, Jiren. I had to act now before the fight dragged on because I knew I couldn't win against you any other way. You're the best fighter I've ever seen, far better than anyone I've fought before. Those Saiyans from the seventh universe could never match your power and I can't blame them for trying to train hard enough to one day surpass you. But I will say this though; you've come to rely too much on the structure and routine of your strength that you can still be defeated by a sound strategy. I'll spare you the memories of the Tournament of Power to rub this mistake in your face."

Jiren growled even more and his power flared up, yet some of his aura caught itself within the pockets of gravity and Kelerot noticed how distorted some of it looked as it took up the area. Jiren screamed again and his power erupted, which forced Kelerot to actually shield his face from the force, grunting from how much power Jiren was putting out.

"Dammit, I can't afford to take any more hits, I have to keep this as precise as possible. This technique is a huge gamble I'm making but I can't have this bastard wreck this for me."

When Jiren was done, a liquid-red aura surrounded him, his muscles bulging and eyes staring furiously at Kelerot. Kelerot lowered his arms and swallowed. Despite how strong he had become, the sight of Jiren at full power was still making him anxious. _Great, if I don't go at full power myself, despite the drop of energy, he might actually kill me. Then again, if this fight takes too long, I won't have any power left to take on Toppo and no one in this universe has the ability to heal._

Kelerot screamed in retaliation and powered up himself, an intense dark purple aura flaring around him like a raging fire. The pockets of gravity remarkably haven't been affected by any of this, which surprised Kelerot for a moment. He wasn't certain whether all this intense energy would neutralize and dissipate the pockets or not but he felt relieved that the pockets were holding.

They both were on the move right away, disappearing and reappearing in high speed bursts. Jiren gauged where some of the debris was hovering within the pockets of gravity to get a good enough idea to move around the planet, ignoring his broken forearm and went to punch Kelerot with rapid fire fists from his good hand and Kelerot had to quickly alter the gravity around the area to slow the impact of the fists to lessen the damage, even though they were still moving at such speed that Kelerot couldn't handle all of them at once. He moved around and was striking Jiren back, altering the gravity of his fists to increase the impact and they connected with the rapid increase in speed and power that the gravity field was creating. Jiren took a heavy hit again in his bad arm to the elbow and then another shot square to the face as his fist was slowed down by the antigravity field Kelerot was making. Each exchange lessened the impact from Jiren and increased the impact from Kelerot to the point where Jiren took another hit to the face and he coughed out blood as a result. He held his now shattered left arm and half his face was covered in his blood, one eye swollen shut. It was clear to him that Kelerot's gravity strikes were taking their toll on his power, despite the difference in levels still making Jiren considerably stronger in raw power. Yet it dawned on him that the strategy Kelerot was using to switch the damage output was more effective than he realized and he was feeling at a loss for what to do.

Kelerot rushed him and Jiren took the blunt of a gravity hit with the bad side of his body, trying to ensure that he'd still have power in his right arm to do something at least and he was knocked back a few steps. His foot caught itself in an intense gravity pocket and his one good eye widened as he gasped, the gravity pulling heavily at his leg, paralyzing his movement. He put a great deal of power to lift his leg and was slowly moving it out of the field of gravity. _He's STILL able to move his leg out of it despite the gravity?!_ Kelerot couldn't believe that Jiren still had this kind of power to move and felt butterflies in his stomach.

 _No, I can't let this intimidate me. If he needs that much time to get himself out of that pocket of gravity, I can use that to hit him._

Kelerot burst forward and aimed a few well-timed hits on Jiren to keep him confined to the gravity pocket but as he was about to hit him with his gravity punches, Jiren surprised him with a powerful blast from his eye, his sudden optic flash bomb attack that can come out of nowhere to overwhelm his opponent and Kelerot was sent back through the air. He inadvertently caught himself inside an antigravity pocket to stop him and he channeled a great deal of energy to neutralize the pocket with an equal amount of gravity. The pocket was soon erased and Jiren finally had his leg free of the pocket he was caught in, staring up at him.

Kelerot took a few deep breaths, knowing how much effort erasing a single pocket took out of him. He scanned the area for the other pockets nearby and saw one in mid air where it looked like a spatial distortion was revolving itself around the bubble when you looked at it more closely. He flew around it casually, not caring if Jiren had taken notice of it or not and landed on the ground. He felt a bit shaky for a brief moment as he landed but he steadied himself, staring at Jiren.

"I see there's a double-edged sword in all of this," Jiren told him with a grin on his face but Kelerot didn't respond. He stared at him stone-faced and walked a few steps towards him.

"It may take a lot to neutralize those pockets but all I'd need to do is ensure that your whole body is trapped within one. I can tell that took a hit on your power using that much effort to free yourself. A few more instances like that and you'll be too weakened to escape."

Jiren clenched his fist. "All the more reason I must end this fight immediately."

Kelerot scoffed and Jiren flew right at him, his left arm hanging limp and he launched another flurry of punches at Kelerot, who had to move quickly to block them all. The punches were pushing him back steadily and Kelerot could sense that he was nearing another pocket of intense gravity a few feet behind him.

 _Dammit, I'm losing power fast. I don't have the strength to control the amount of gravity to slow down his punches anymore._

Kelerot decided to make a high-risk move and conjured a gravity well in between his hands. He held it afterwards like a ball hovering over his right hand and he launched it at Jiren through the barrage of punches he was throwing at him.

"What the?!" yelled Jiren as the ball erupted and an intense gravity well sprung forth. Jiren felt himself be pulled in towards the center of the small gravity well and his limp left arm was being dragged in first. The intensity that this was creating was pulling at him quickly and he could feel the pain of his arm tearing away from his body and he began to scream, channelling enough power to dissipate the gravity well and the pulling slowed down until he no longer felt it tugging away at him and he fell to one knee, breathing heavily.

Kelerot sighed, frowning. He looked at his hands and felt dejected that he couldn't make another one to finish him off. He closed and opened his hands into fists, staring back at Jiren as he lifted himself back onto his feet.

Jiren built up energy in his open palm into a large orange sphere. The energy he was channeling into it was even greater than before, tearing the ground and exposing some of the pockets for the space that was distorting itself around them. The distortions became clearer as the landscape was being devastated by Jiren's powerful energy ball and Kelerot felt the billowing winds blow against him from the force of the energy ball.

Jiren screamed as he launched himself in the air and pointed the energy ball down at Kelerot. "It's over for you!"

Kelerot screamed as he began to counter the energy ball with a reflexive movement of his hands to block the energy ball and surround it with a large gravity well that began to shrink it down in size. The energy was still pushing down on him as Kelerot grunted, closing his eyes. He fell to one knee holding onto the gravity well that was slowly but surely containing and shrinking the energy ball but Jiren continued pushing further.

Kelerot felt his legs burning, his body burning. He felt the intense heat of the whole area make him sweat profusely, droplets streaming down his face as he brought himself back to his feet, legs shaking and feeling more like jelly as each moment passes by. He took a step forward, face furious and wide-eyed, teeth clenched and bared, and he grunted heavily as he pushed the ball back, the gravity well containing it.

"What?!" Jiren cried and screamed again as he put another burst of energy down into the ball to make it bigger. But Kelerot took another step forward, building more power within himself and the ground around him tore itself apart, revealing more pockets of gravity and antigravity around him. The debris and large chunks of the planet flew around and some were caught in the pockets. The gravity pockets changed the trajectories of the chunks and some were sent flying towards Jiren and Kelerot, who used a free hand to destroy it with a Hakai, conserving as much energy as he needed to send this back to Jiren.

Jiren didn't fare as well and took a large rock to the back of the head. He couldn't free his arm to destroy it and wasn't able to turn his head to disintegrate the rock with his eye, resigned to the fate of this power struggle with Kelerot and anything around the two had become fatally hazardous.

The impact caused him to lose control of his energy ball for a moment and Kelerot jumped up to kick the ball back up to him with a resounding roar. He stared at the ball that was hurtling towards him and it hit him along with the gravity well, causing a huge explosion with Jiren screaming from the impact. The impact sent him flying back down and he momentarily lost consciousness as he was falling on a one-way course to an antigravity pocket. He landed within it and it halted his movement, causing him to remain floating in the air in a sort of suspended animation state and Kelerot flew up to the antigravity pocket. Clenching his fist, he built up enough energy to amplify the gravity around it and he swung it down hard, connecting with Jiren's face before he could wake up and it sent him crashing hard out of the pocket and into the ground next to another gravity pocket. Kelerot landed and fell to his hands and knees, breathing heavily.

A few seconds went by and Jiren's eye fluttered open, closing his good hand slowly into a fist. He rolled over to his side and slowly made his way back up to his feet and Kelerot's eyes widened a bit as he watched him stand, his face a mask of his own blood and left arm dangling awkwardly to his side. He limped a bit as he walked towards him and Kelerot glared back at him.

"I will never give up, I will never let you win this fight, criminal. Justice must prevail," he muttered as he stalked towards Kelerot, who sighed heavily.

"However, I must commend your resolve and your strength. I can at least give you that recognition," he told him, smiling through his blood-caked face, his left eye closed completely.

Kelerot was still breathing a bit heavily as he felt his hands shaking when he raised them. _I've overexerted myself; I can't seem to control my hands anymore. Dammit._

Shaking the nerves away in his hands, he clenched them and took up a fighting position, dancing a bit on his feet, bouncing up and down. Wiping sweat from his forehead so it wouldn't drip in his eyes, he cautiously approached Jiren as he took a few slow steps forward.

"'The fight only ends when one of you doesn't get back up after a few minutes.' That's what Daikon told me many years ago. I'll knock you down as many times as it takes to make sure you stay down permanently." Kelerot was more wary of approaching Jiren this time as he moved closer, not knowing how much power might still be left in this muscle-bound brute. He scoffed at the notion that Jiren was still ridiculously powerful but couldn't help but be curiously optimistic about his chances.

He launched himself with a punch amplified with a gravity field to increase the impact and Jiren managed to catch it in his one good hand, surprising Kelerot. He channeled energy in the hand as it was firmly grasped around Kelerot's smaller hand, as though his hand covered it completely and Kelerot had to move quickly to prevent Jiren from causing a devastating explosion with his hand. He swung his leg in a sweeping motion and channeled a gravity field around his foot, kicking at Jiren's leg and it struck him hard enough to shatter the bone inside where his knee was, causing Jiren to let go of Kelerot's hand and stagger back on one leg, unable to put any weight on his right leg anymore. Kelerot had to move quickly and went in for another punch to Jiren's face but Jiren responded by grabbing his fighting gi and pulling him towards him, wrapping his arm around Kelerot to trap him.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Kelerot yelled and Jiren launched himself to the air, pulling Kelerot with him. When Kelerot saw where Jiren was going, his eyes lit up in a panic.

"Hey! Are you crazy?! You'll kill us both!" Kelerot screamed as Jiren was taking him towards a gravity pocket with intense gravity warping the space around it. There was still a little bit of ground that was intact below it and Jiren was dragging Kelerot down towards it.

"Not…the both of us…just you…" Jiren grunted and he threw Kelerot down below him into the gravity pocket, Kelerot screaming as he landed inside it and he slammed down hard into the ground. Jiren flew back down and landed, but his leg buckled underneath him and he fell down to his side.

Kelerot's face flew into a panic as he screamed, unable to lift himself or even move his arms and his face contorted into a level of malice, fury and bloodlust so intense that he drove his power to its utmost limit, channeling energy to neutralize the gravity pocket with an increased antigravity field. He screamed himself hoarse as the intense gravity was ebbing away, making him able to lift his arms again to push himself off the ground, but the gravity was still keeping him from moving out of the pocket completely and he growled and snarled, glaring hot fire at Jiren as he turned to crawl at him, not taking his eyes off him.

Jiren saw the look on Kelerot's face and frowned. He stared at his leg and brought himself to his one good knee but couldn't put any pressure on his other leg to bring himself back to a standing position. It was all he could do to make himself sit up, holding his good leg close while the shattered leg was draped along the ground. He remained calm as he watched Kelerot move one hand in front of the other, never taking his eyes off of him as he emerged from the pocket. When he finally got his legs out of there, he collapsed face-first on the ground. Planting his hands beside him, he lifted his head to stare at Jiren again, his eyes bearing the look of a crazed man lost in his fury.

"I will find him…"

"I will kill him…"

"And all of this will finally end…mark my words…"

Kelerot staggered slowly to his feet and each step was on wobbly legs, almost collapsing again after taking a couple steps forward. He raised his hand and pointed it with his palm facing outward at Jiren, who figured what Kelerot was intending on doing next. Jiren lifted his hand but let it drop to his side, hanging his head low, closing his still intact eye.

"Promise me one thing," he whispered, glancing up at him. Kelerot's eye was twitching from the fury he was feeling, breathing heavily with his hand outstretched. He gritted his teeth and tried to fight the twitch in his eye but it was acting on its own.

"Promise me you won't destroy the people of this universe," Jiren finished, staring up at Kelerot with the last of his resolve, knowing that throwing Kelerot into that gravity pocket used up the last of his strength. He only had enough left to sit up and stare his opponent down with as much dignity as he could muster, resigned to his fate now without a single ounce of fear in his eye, and Kelerot knew that when he stared at him. Even showing him the face of the demon that killed his family and mentor didn't make him react out of fear, but rather brought out his level of anger not felt since the Tournament of Power.

Kelerot lowered his hand and felt his breathing become less laboured as he stood for a moment, staring down at him. He didn't know what to feel but the more he looked at that resolution on Jiren's face, his anger was leaving his face. He let his hand drop to his side.

"Dammit…I can't even destroy you now."

"Then you will fulfil your promise?" Jiren asked and got a sour look from Kelerot in return.

"I'm not saying I will, but I'm not ready to say I won't either," he was able to get enough feeling in his legs back to walk over to Jiren and put his hand on his head.

"I must show you something. Maybe this will help you see things from my point of view for once."

Kelerot closed his eyes and showed Jiren his memories of when he was taken hostage by Captain Kabinet's pirate crew and how he was apprehended by Toppo, Dyspo, and Kahseral. Jiren saw everything Kelerot had endured afterwards in the prison and gasped, his eye shooting open. When Kelerot let his hand go, Jiren glanced up at him.

"Do what you will with that revelation. If you're still resigned to your duty as a Pride Trooper and label me a criminal, then so be it. But at least you now can understand where I've been coming from all this time and why I need to kill Toppo."

Kelerot turned to walk away. "Wait."

Kelerot stopped and glanced behind him.

"It's still not too late for you to abandon your desire, Kelerot." Jiren told him and Kelerot sighed, facing him. The fact Kelerot heard Jiren say his name for the first time meant that he was serious about wanting him to stop before he crossed the point of no return.

"I'm sorry, Jiren. I passed that point a long time ago. Had this been handled differently, you would've seen me fight alongside you as a Pride Trooper."

"Then let us work together to rebuild the Pride Troopers and resolve never to allow our fates to happen to anyone else," Jiren said and Kelerot glared down at him, quickly raising his hand back at him, palm facing forward. His other hand was clenched tightly in a fist.

"Damn you! I'm showing you mercy!" Kelerot's voice shook as he yelled. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath again. "Don't make me waste this decision. I'm allowing you live on one condition."

He lowered his hand again, expecting Jiren to ask him what the condition was but he said nothing. He simply kept his eye on him, waiting for him to speak.

"Don't come looking for me. Don't follow me or even think of pursuing your ideological idiocy, believing 'justice' will prevail. I'll destroy Toppo and those higher gods can find a new Destroyer to do whatever they want with the universe. I cannot rest knowing that he's still out there and I will stop at nothing to make sure that he gets what's coming to him."

Jiren stared at the ground for a moment, mulling it over.

"I cannot, you've taken too many lives as it is. I cannot let you go knowing that you've destroyed…my friends…"

Kelerot almost felt regret but he calmed his face and frowned, giving a cold, emotionless expression to Jiren now.

"Fine. I offered you a compromise. I wanted to show you mercy to prove once and for all that I'm more than just a 'criminal' in your eyes. I wanted to give you the opportunity to not only rebuild the Pride Troopers into a far better squadron of protectors for this universe but to give you the chance to fight _him_ again. I know that still lingers in the back of your head."

Jiren's eye widened a bit as he stared up at him, knowing that he meant Goku when he brought him up. Kelerot raised his hand again.

"But like every single one of you. You've forced my hand. And like Warden Kutlerie did to me and all those prisoners, there won't be any second chances."

His hand pulsed and enveloped Jiren in the light of Destruction energy and Jiren grunted and gritted his teeth as he began to dissolve. His face bore the pain of being erased but he made sure to never stop staring at Kelerot as he was slowly fading away from existence, his body disintegrating into purple particles of energy that floated and vanished in the air.

When his face disappeared, Kelerot closed his eyes and breathed a heavy sigh, putting his hand to his face. It was a decision that weighed heavily upon him but the more times he felt his hand was forced, the more he hated it.

"Why…"

He clenched his hand into a fist in front of him, shaking.

"WHY DO YOU KEEP FORCING THIS OUT OF ME?!"

He collapsed to his hands and knees and slammed his fists on the ground repeatedly.

"Damn you, Jiren! Damn you, Pride Troopers! Damn you all! Why do you keep forcing me into this position when you refuse to see my side in all of this?! I HATE THIS!"

He couldn't stop the tears coming down his face as his bottom lip quivered, holding a hand to his face to cover it, breathing a couple of sobs through his hand.

"I have to make this right!"

He stood up and wiped his face clear of any further tears he had shed, closing his eyes to focus his mind. He tried to sense Toppo and Cae's presence but felt nothing.

"They don't seem to be here," he muttered and began stretching out his senses elsewhere but the more he did it the bigger the strain of all that knowledge of the multiverse was affecting his mind and he fell to one knee, clutching his head. His eyes shot open wide and he felt a tremendous amount of pressure come down on his head all at once, thinking that he might've found himself in that gravity pocket once more. It felt like a gravity well pushing down on his brain as images of the multiverse were flashing rapidly in his mind all at once and he began screaming.

"No…not this again! I can't…I can't hold it all in…I've been weakened too much…it hurts so much…."

His head was throbbing and the pain was making him cry fresh tears again as he screamed.

"Stop, please! Make it stop! I can't take it anymore!"

Through the images that were bombarding his head, he tried to filter them enough to think through it and conjure an image of Earth from the seventh universe again.

"Never thought…I'd have to go back…there…"

All he could do was think of Earth and he teleported using any reserve power he still had left and he vanished.


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26 – "Save the Namekians! Goku returns to a familiar battleground from long ago."**

 **The last two Dragonballs…**

Esca slid himself along the cold metallic floor of Cooler's main bridge, moving slowly towards the five Dragonballs that had been collected from the Namekian villages, the one-star ball seized by Cooler himself after Esca pleaded for his life. He reached out to touch the one-star ball but Cooler's foot slammed his hand down on the floor, trapping it underneath and Esca cried out in panic and pain from the pressure.

"Now, now, can't have you squirming around like that," he said in an amusing tone, kneeling down to get a good look at him more carefully. Esca had already done a considerable amount of crying, his eyes raw and red from how much he had shed and he tried in vain to pull his hand free. When Cooler eased his foot off, Esca jerked it back towards him as quickly as he could, holding it to his chest. He stared up at him and Cooler frowned.

"Stop looking at me like that, that expression disgusts me," he said and struck the Grand Elder with the back of his hand. Esca breathed heavily, holding the side of his face, a fresh new bruise appearing where he had been struck and Cooler signaled a couple of his crew over to him.

"Put this one in a room and lock it. We'll keep him there until the Saiyans arrive," he ordered and they saluted him, grabbing Esca to bring him to his feet. He looked around frantically and eyed the Dragonballs once more, trying in vain to reach them but the last thing he saw was the back of Cooler as the doors slid shut in front of him. The crew members held him up by his arms and they brought him to the first empty room that was available. When the doors slid open, they shoved him inside, not caring that he couldn't stand on his own feet properly and he collapsed forward, turning to look back up at him.

"Can't wait to see what this dragon looks like. Lord Cooler's gonna be so stoked to get a wish," said one of them as he closed the door. Their conversation was muffled by the thickness of the metal doors and Esca was left in the empty room with little illumination and the simplest of amenities: bed, toilet, mirror, and dresser. A slot opened up in the door, a single panel that slid open earlier, and a waterskin was tossed in there.

"Since all you lizards do is drink water, here's a token of our 'appreciation'," said a different crew member and he slid the slot shut. Esca crawled over to the waterskin and opened it to gulp it down quickly, hugging it against him. His mouth had dried up from all the heavy breathing and crying he had been through and he moved himself towards the bed to climb on top of it. He had some strength left in his arms, even after having holes blasted through them from Cooler's energy beam but there was nothing he could do about his leg, limping heavily as he walked.

When he reached the top of the bed, he laid down and tried to close his eyes to sleep, holding the waterskin close to him once more. He couldn't think of anything, the fear he had been experiencing for the past while made it unbearable to think of anything other than the pain his other Namekians must be going through, the pain of going through the same experience all over again as the first time they were invaded by the Freeza Force, only this other one named Cooler was far worse in terms of how he treated him and his people.

He clutched the waterskin tightly again and clenched his eyes shut. _Goku, please come, I'm begging you, save what's left of us and the Dragonballs!_

 **Senzu beans…**

Pan flew straight up to the clouds and focused her mind on Dende's energy. She could sense both him and Mr. Popo together on the lookout and used that to navigate herself towards their location. But what she focused on more was the spire that was beneath the lookout, where an elderly figure named Korin lived. This would be the first time she'd meet this Korin and wondered if he was friendly enough or was he as much an enigma as Mr. Popo was when she first laid eyes on him. She shuddered a bit when she remembered Mr. Popo's eyes and started picturing Korin as another version of Popo and she shook her head.

"Aaah, I can't let myself get distracted like that. Focus Pan, get to this Korin guy as quickly as possible."

She could start seeing the tall white spire among a thicket of trees far below, as though the landscape resembled a model train set she had once seen at a toy store. Trees were randomly placed along the grass but there weren't enough of them to consider it a forest, yet she felt compelled to determine that it was a forest regardless. She saw what looked like a campsite set up around the bottom of the spire but the objects were so diminutive that she could've easily confused them for something else. People that were as small as ants moved around the camp site and she wondered if she might stop and say hello to pay her respects but decided the Senzu beans were her top priority.

When she came up to the top of the spire, it looked like a giant pot with two lids on opposite sides of each other, lids that could touch each other. A staircase was seen along the left side and she chose to land there. She cautiously walked up the steps and peeked over the railing.

Sitting against another railing along the east side of the structure was a fat man with an unkempt beard, snoring loudly with his hand concealed underneath a messy orange gi. She could see several crusted food stains that looked like they haven't been washed off in ages and the large man moved his hand to scratch his hairy chest.

Pan wanted to wake the man up, thinking that this might be the one they called Korin. But she was more intrigued by the artifacts that were laid around the place. She eyed an old porcelain vase that rested on top of a pedestal and admired the ancient designs on it. Walking further in, she saw an archway that led to the inner room where a strange looking unpolished bronze jug with a couple of handles on its sides rested on top of another smaller pedestal as though this looked like the most important artifact in the whole room.

It was then that her nose caught the scent of fresh herbs and her mouth immediately began to water.

"That smells so good, it reminds me of mom's tomato bisque," she muttered to herself and felt her stomach growl in response. She let out a small gasp, wondering if that was loud enough to wake the large man to her right and she glanced nervously to see whether he was awake or not. He unconsciously moved his finger to shove it up his nose, digging around inside for something and she averted her gaze, making a disgusted face.

"Eww," she whispered and walked inside the room as quickly as she could tiptoe. She could see the outline of a kitchen in the distance, the light from inside illuminating the darkened room she found herself in and she examined the place.

There were several closed pots slightly larger than her head placed neatly on shelves along the wall, even though some of the walls inside looked curved rather than straight, an aesthetic that seemed to blend in well with the circular exterior of the building. Pan wondered if the Senzu beans might be within one of the pots and casually snuck towards them, hoping not to disturb the person that was currently cooking that delicious meal.

Her stomach growled again and she gritted her teeth, putting a hand to her abdomen. _Stop that!_

When she reached the pots, she lifted up a lid to look inside and frowned when it was nothing but dried white rice. She looked at it more closely and noticed that it was the kind of rice mostly used to make sushi with and she carefully placed the lid back down without making a sound.

She examined the contents of the next few pots and most of it was the same: rice, rice, and more rice. There was a pot that had oats in it for porridge of some kind and she saw that there was a large stash of fish cakes on another shelf. She pulled one down and looked at the packaging.

 _How does this guy do any shopping from all the way up here?_ She asked herself.

"Can I help you with something?" said a high-pitched yet gruff voice from behind her and Pan nearly jumped up to the ceiling. She squealed and spun around, bumping into the pots that caused the shelf to wobble and she panicked trying to hold it steady. A couple from the top shelf fell off and she was able to catch one but the other one crashed onto the floor, a white powder spilling all around it, dredging up a cloud around it. Pan waved the cloud away and held onto the pot for dear life, staring down at the small figure standing before her.

"You're a jumpy thing, aren't ya?" he said, examining the floor where the pot had shattered and sighed a bit.

"Flour's always a mess to clean, but I've been meaning to replace this for a while now," he walked over to the wall to retrieve his walking staff and Pan set the pot down carefully on the floor, bowing deeply at the small person. She couldn't believe her eyes as she eyed him, a large talking white cat that looked like those porcelain lucky cat figurines on display at certain restaurants near Capsule Corporation. She remembered one that looked a lot like this one on display at the main reception desk with a slotted hole on the top to slide a few coins inside.

"I'm terribly sorry for breaking your pot, mister. I'll go and let Mr. Korin know and clean up the mess," she said, not looking up at him.

"Oh him? That's Yajirobe. Lazy oaf ate himself into a coma again. Don't worry about the mess, I'll get it cleaned up later. Now what brings you all the way up here?"

Pan straightened up and held her arm with her other hand, looking shyly at this cat.

"What now, I got your tongue or something?" he asked and Pan blinked, chuckling nervously.

"Oh right, 'cat got your tongue', and you're a cat, ha ha ha," she laughed nervously a bit and Korin cleared his throat, forcing her to stand at attention.

"I'm sorry! My name is Pan, and I was wondering if you could give me some of your Senzu beans to help heal my friends who've been injured, sir!" she squeaked it all at once and Korin walked over to a large sized pot in the corner of the room, lifting up the lid. Pan approached it and saw that the pot was filled to the brim with the green beans and her eyes lit up.

"Wow, there's so many of them."

"I didn't expect to have to give some so soon after only a week, but after all that's been going on down there, I can't blame you all for wanting another batch. Here, take a dozen."

"Huh?"

Korin passed a cloth bag from a pile of empty bags to Pan and scooped up a dozen Senzu beans to slide them inside.

"You're Goku's grandkid, correct?" he said, tying the bag closed with its drawstring and Pan blinked.

"How did you know?"  
"Not a lot gets past us up here. I would've sent Yajirobe there to hand the beans over to you but I sensed you were coming," he said and led Pan to the previous room. He jabbed Yajirobe awake with the bottom of his staff as he walked past him and the large man snorted as he stared around frantically.

"Huh? Wha?" Korin chuckled a bit at Yajirobe's confusion and the large man stood up, scratching his chest and head.

"Who's the pipsqueak?" he asked.

"That's Goku's grandkid. She's here to get some Senzu beans," Korin said, a hand behind his back as he stared off in the distance. Yajirobe approached Pan who wrinkled her nose up at him.

"Phew, when's the last time you bathed?" she said, holding her nose.

"Hey! I bathe once a month for your information! Geez, for a grandkid you sure got a lip on ya."

Pan made another disgusted face and backed a few steps away from him.

"Whatever. Is dinner ready yet?" he asked Korin, but the cat didn't look behind him.

"Mr. Korin, do you know of any way to help Uncle Piccolo and Mr. Tien get back to normal?" she asked, holding the bag of senzu beans against her chest. Korin sighed, shaking his head.

"None of what I have up here will do ya any good, kiddo. There might be a way but that's entirely up to your grandpa to figure that one out. Do you wanna risk going back there for his sake?"  
Pan clutched the bag tightly in her hand and stood as tall as she could, staring at him with a determined look.

"I'll do whatever it takes to get my friends back to normal and kick those androids' butts!" she said and Yajirobe fished out a nugget from his nose, flicking it away.

"Say kid, how's Goku been anyway? How's everyone been for that matter? All Korin tells me is pretty vague stuff like those new people that arrived earlier."

"Well, um, there's that big guy with his family, who's got an adorable daughter who's taken to Bulla and I really well, making us act like big sisters to her, and there's that brat of a kid with a mohawk with his twin brother. And there was this other guy who looked like a tall monkey and he had a huge scary power to him."

Korin nodded and turned around.

"He's made quite the spectacle, causing Yajirobe to soil himself from the energy we felt," he said and Yajirobe shot him a dirty look.

"But I think you've got bigger problems escalating on ya for now so you might as well hop to it and get those beans to your friends." Pan walked over to him and grabbed his paw for a handshake, smiling down at him. Even though she was still short for her age, Korin was still at least a head shorter than she was. He returned her smile with a grin of his own.

"Oh, before I forget, keep that 'adorable daughter' safe. There's something about her that's been poking my noggin since they got here."

"Oh, uh, sure. I'll make sure she stays safe from those androids," she said and ran to jump out of the structure and take to the air, her hand still clutching the bag.

"It ain't the androids I'm worried about though," Korin whispered to himself as he watched Pan fly out of sight below the group of clouds below them.

Pan stopped her flight after she passed the clouds below. She glanced back and forth, closing her eyes to get a feel for her direction.

"Ok, Papaya island is that way," she said, pointing in front of her, "and Capsule Corporation is that way," she pointed to her left.

"Right, I think I know how I can help both at the same time," she said and closed her eyes. She concentrated her energy and used her split form technique to create a perfect copy of herself without splitting her energy. She handed a senzu bean to her copy.

"I'm going to see Uub at Papaya island. You can take that to Bulla at Capsule Corporation," Pan told the clone and she frowned down at the bean.

"Why do you get to see Uub? Why can't it be me?" she asked and Pan glared a bit, giving her clone a look.

"You're still 'seeing' Uub because we're the same person. I'm only doing this to save time," Pan said and the copy rolled her eyes.

"How about you go see Bulla and I'll go to Papaya island. I can't imagine mom will be too thrilled to see us again."

"What's this 'us' thing? We're the same Pan, you're just a copy," Pan said and the copy looked disgusted.

"I'm Pan too, dummy! Copy nothing, we're all the same and I want to see Uub!" she cried out and Pan sighed loudly.

"Okay, okay, fine! Ugh, I don't know why we're fighting about this. Get that to Uub as quickly as possible and try not to get caught by mom, alright? Once he's got the bean, he can take you both to meet Bulla and I back at Capsule Corporation."

The copy nodded and put forth a burst of energy to blaze through the sky to reached Papaya island momentarily. Pan clutched the bag in her hand and stared at her copy.

"I need to work on my personality skills whenever I do this," she muttered to herself and flew off to Capsule Corporation.

The Pan clone landed on the ground and looked around to see what sort of activity had been happening since she left. The island had quieted down since a lot of the spectators left some time ago and she ran towards the hospital where she figured Uub might be resting after his match. She tried to sense his energy but felt nothing in return.

"He's probably still sleeping. I'll have to see if he's in here to begin with and what room he's staying at," she said and ran to the entrance but stopped when she saw the back of Videl talking to the receptionist. She sounded pleased and she could catch a smile from the corner of her eye based on how much of her profile she could make out, but she quickly hid herself behind a few shrubs, staying within the shadows.

"Crap, mom's probably keeping an eye on Uub waiting for me to come back to visit him," she whispered and approached the entrance to peek around to see if Videl was still nearby. She sidled along the wall and used her energy to stretch out her senses to amplify them and listen in on Videl, wondering whether she was still there or not.

"…else you need, Miss?" she caught the receptionist asking Videl.

"Yeah. I have a daughter, she's about ten or eleven, gosh I don't even know how old she is now, how terrible of me," Videl chuckled a bit.

Pan's time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber did age her a bit, remembering that she had to celebrate her birthday with Uub, Goku, and Piccolo.

"She'll look a bit like me, jet black hair, wears a really cute orange dress with a ribbon in her hair. If she comes by and asks for Uub, tell her we'll be in room 305. I really miss her."

"Geez mom, I haven't even been gone an hour," Pan whispered, sighing in annoyance. She felt even more annoyed that she still had to wear this dress that had seen a bit of damage and wear from her skirmish with Piccolo and sighed, wishing she could dress in her usual tomboyish clothing. When she heard the room number, she quickly ran around the building to gauge where the room might be on the third floor. She flew up to the balconies that were attached to the rooms and peeked inside each one until she saw a door open and Videl walked in a few minutes later. She quickly ducked out of sight and poked her head over the railing to see what her mother was up to. She could see that Uub was conscious again and looked to be pleading with Videl about something but she silenced him with a look and a shake of her head, tucking him back in the bed he was sleeping in. She sat down on a chair beside the bed and took out an apple to peel it with a pocket knife. She sliced slivers off one by one and handed them to Uub, who raised his hands to protest but she shook her head and forced it on him anyway. When she stood up to wipe her hands, Uub looked down at the apple slices and smiled weakly up at her. When he glanced to his side, his eyes widened when he spotted Pan looking at him. She shook her head and put a finger to her lips to let him know not to say anything and she pointed to the side of the balcony out of sight and Uub nodded. She flew alongside the balcony, keeping herself from being spotted by Videl and hovered to the inside of the balcony. She crouched low and poked near the sliding door to see where Videl was and saw her walk around the room. She approached the sliding door and Pan quickly hopped over the railing to sidle along the side of it, floating in mid-air to keep her back to it and out of sight.

Videl felt something tingle at the back of her head, her motherly instinct kick in and she glanced around.

"Pan?"

 _Crap!_

Pan closed her eyes, hoping she wouldn't be spotted and Videl walked over to the railing, but not the one to the side that Pan was glad to notice. Videl leaned on it and sighed as the warm breeze blew through her hair.

"Pan, if you're out there, please come back. I don't know why you wanted to run off with your dad and grandfather and I wish you'd just come to your senses and come back to stay here," she sounded defeated with her tone and Pan had the urge to go up and comfort her mother but dreaded the scolding that would likely come afterwards. She's already made her dad and grandfather angry with her on top of how her mother's been acting earlier. Adding to this would only make her feel ten times worse and she needed time to think of the best way to make it up to her when she was ready. She clutched the bean in her hand and waited for the door to slide open again. When she heard it shut once more, she nodded and flew back up, but wasn't expecting Videl to still be there, standing beside the door and Pan cried out, almost dropping the senzu bean in her hand.

"Aha! I felt you were hovering around somewhere," she said with a smile on her face, but her eyes were conveying a different emotion to Pan that wasn't as happy, nor friendly. Pan landed dejectedly in front of Videl and stared down at the ground.

"You don't look injured, thank goodness," Videl said, walking over to get a closer look. She frowned at Pan's clothing and saw tears along the fabric with dirt marks and dusted them off, wiping Pan's face as well with her hand.

"M-mom, c'mon, this is embarrassing," she muttered and Videl shook her head.

"None of that. What's more embarrassing is you leaving me all by myself out of the blue. You should've seen the looks I got from the spectators; they think I'm a bad mother for letting you run off like that at the first sign of danger. I bet your father wasn't too happy to see you join them either."

"N-no, no he wasn't," Pan muttered, averting her mother's look. She immediately began regretting volunteering to give Uub the senzu bean now and wanted so badly to switch places with the other Pan who was probably having a great time with Bulla after she had her bean heal her injury.

"Pan," Videl sighed, making her wince from her voice. "Why on earth are you hovering around the balcony? Why didn't you just come in the front like a normal person would've to visit Uub?"

"Because I didn't want you to see me," Pan muttered and Videl leered down at her, arms crossed.

"I'm not some monster you hide from, you know. I'm your mother," she drove that point clearly as she spoke to Pan.

"I know you're my mom. Can we please give this Senzu bean to Uub now? I'm getting kinda tired of holding onto it," she said, showing her the bean she had in her hand and Videl's eyebrows rose.

"Huh? Uh, yeah. I'm sure Uub will be happy to have one of those after he fought that boy," Videl said and Pan waved at Uub as Videl opened the sliding door to let her in. Pan rushed quickly to the side of the bed and almost wanted to tackle Uub onto the bed but she restrained herself, going red in the face with a huge smile.

"H-hey. I'm really sorry for leaving during your match like that," she said, bowing her head and Uub glanced back, a bit confused but he chuckled a bit afterwards.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you had a reason to leave with master Goku and your dad," he said and Pan's face was almost as red as a tomato. _Why does his voice have to be so sweet and gentle?!_

Pan held up the senzu bean in front of Uub and he held out his hand for her to place it in and he smiled down at it.

"Glad to see these are still around," he said and popped it in his mouth to chew it down. Seconds after he swallowed it, he clenched his fist with a huge beaming smile, throwing the blanket off of him.

"Alright, now I can go help master Goku," he said and Pan had a hesitant look on her face, glancing to Videl, who stared at the both of them with her arms crossed again.

"Um, if that's okay with you, Miss Videl?" Uub asked. Videl relaxed her arms and leaned on the front of the bed, gazing down at the bedding.

"Who am I kidding? I've got one of the strongest daughters of the planet with her future husband. Why should I keep you two apart?" she said with a gentle smile on her face and both Uub and Pan looked at each other, red in the face.

"Mom, we're not getting married! We haven't even been dating or anything!" she cried out and Videl looked like she hadn't heard a word Pan said.

"Oh to see you in the same dress that's been passed down the family since your grandmother got married! You'll grow older and fill out quite nicely, and I know you'll wear that dress with the same pride and love I had when I married your father!" Videl laughed a bit and Pan clenched her fists, hiding her chest from both her mother's gaze and potentially Uub's, even though he wasn't even looking at her. He was averting her gaze as well, clutching the bedding tightly in his hands.

"I don't care about growing boobs, mom! I have to save the world against these killer androids who've corrupted Uncle Piccolo and Tien with evil energy!" Pan blurted out as fast as she could and Uub shot her a look of concern.

"Piccolo's been corrupted by evil energy?!" he cried out and Pan nodded.

"If we can join up with Bulla, I'll fill you in on the way," she said and stared at Videl with a less embarrassed look on her face, waiting to see what her mother would say.

"Gohan's fighting them, isn't he?" she said with worry in her voice. "I wish he hadn't been forced to fight so soon after he started his vacation."

"I know mom, but dad's strong enough to destroy those monsters, I know it. And I want Uub, Bulla, and myself to help in anyway we can. We also have to let Broly and his family know what's going on so they too can help. I don't know how safe you all are here, but this could get pretty messy for not just us, but the whole planet if these androids stay around for too long and corrupt others, namely our friends and family."

Videl walked over to Pan and wrapped her arms around her, bringing her head to her chest, holding her tightly. She gently stroked her daughter's hair and looked down with a smile on her face.

"I'm just happy you're safe. Promise me you kids won't get yourselves in too much trouble? You're strong, but not as strong as your dad and I don't want you taking on a task too big to handle. I've been overreacting a lot and I'm sorry. I can't let _this_ be affected by all this stress."

Videl put a hand to her stomach and smiled down at Pan, who's eyes widened. She gasped and let out a squeal.

"No! No way!"

"I wanted to wait until after the tournament was over to tell your father," she said and Pan couldn't contain her excitement, jumping up and down.

"I can't believe this! I'm gonna be a big sister!" she cried out and ran to hug Uub and then almost tackled her mom but restrained herself again, hugging her normally.

"Congratulations, Miss Videl," Uub said, bowing his head. Videl nodded and bowed at Uub.

"Promise me you'll keep Pan safe and out of harm's way? I can feel relaxed knowing she's in good hands from someone like you."

"Mom…" Pan felt a sense of euphoria as she heard her mother ask that of Uub and she closed her eyes, smiling. _This is going far better than I expected._

"You have my word, Miss Videl. I'll protect Pan with every ounce of my being and lay my life down for her if I have to." Pan almost fainted when she heard that and had to hold onto the railing since her legs gave out on her. She began to breath heavily and was close to hyperventilating and she glared back up at Uub.

"Geez, Uub, lay it down so thick why don't ya?" she said and Uub blinked, confused. He glanced over at Videl, wondering if she knew what was going on but Videl hid a snicker behind the back of her hand.

He got out of the bed and looked down to see he was only clad in his boxer shorts and he blushed heavily.

"Um, I need, I need um, my clothes, Miss Videl," he said, hoping not to get stared at too much by Pan, who averted her eyes and stared away, occasionally peeking at Uub's physique from behind her. Videl fetched Uub's gi that had been neatly folded onto an end table and passed it to him so he could get dressed quickly. When he laced up his boots, he stood and adjusted the wrist bands on his arms, nodding.

"First things first, we'll go and talk to Broly and his family, fill them in on what's going on. Then I can take all of us at once to Capsule Corporation so we can plan a strategy to handle these androids and see what can be done about this evil energy that's infected Piccolo and Tien."

"Huh? Oh yeah, right, good idea. Mom, don't overexert yourself, okay? I want my little brother or sister to come out in their best health," she said and Videl blushed a bit.

"I'll be fine, Pan. Look at you, the roles have reversed and now you're the one who's worried," Videl said, laughing softly and Pan wrapped her arm around her mother.

"Pan, seriously, I don't need help, I've only just started my pregnancy," Videl protested but Pan didn't say anything. She glanced at Uub, who shrugged his shoulders and the three left the room.

 **Gather at Capsule Corporation…**

When Choi woke up in a familiar setting, he sat up quickly and punched the air a couple of times. He blinked for a moment, then sighed, staring around him. Throwing the blanket off of him, he jumped off the bed but almost collapsed to the floor from the lack of energy. It was all he had to get out of bed in the first place and he grumbled as he lifted himself with the help of the bed.

The noise woke up his family as Cheelai, Bok, and Arugula were startled awake from the commotion and Bok rushed to his brother's side, helping him up.

"Brother! Thank goodness you woke up. I was worried you'd fallen into a coma or something," Bok said and Choi shrugged himself off immediately from Bok, leaning against the bed.

"Like hell I'd get knocked into a coma from such a weak attack. Damn fauxhawk got lucky. Kaioken my butt, more like Kaiocrap."

Cheelai cleared her throat loud enough for him to hear and he glanced over at her.

"Get your butt back in bed, Choi, you're in no condition to move around," she told him and he stared at her for a moment, then sighed as he climbed back on top, sitting cross-legged. He decided to cross his arms as well and stared ahead, searching the room.

"Where's dad?" he asked.

"Out on the balcony," Bok told him and Choi was about to move off the bed to see for himself but Bok held him down, getting a dirty look from his brother.

"I'll let him know you're awake. You stay put," Bok said and opened the sliding door, poking out to look at his father. Broly stared off in the distance, hands clenching open and closed a few times and Bok looked up worriedly at his father.

"Dad? Is everything okay?" he asked and Broly winced, staring back wide-eyed. Bok took a step back, looking up at him and Broly's face drooped a bit, looking down at the floor.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have overreacted," he muttered and Bok blinked a moment before approaching him.

"Choi's awake again," he said and Broly nodded, escorting his son back in the room. He slid the door shut and glanced over at Choi with a frown, forcing the twin to avert his eyes, glancing more at Cheelai and Arugula than at his father. Arugula didn't want to look at him and kept her face hidden beside Cheelai's chest and she had her mother's hand stroking her hair gently. Cheelai looked up worriedly at him. "Is it getting worse?"

Broly didn't respond, instead he leered over Choi, who wasn't sure how he was going to be talked down to and he had trouble acknowledging the look Broly was giving him, having never seen him look this upset before. It was a bit much for him to process and he kept looking at Bok and Cheelai for help.

"Choi, look at dad, he needs to know you're fine," Bok said firmly and Choi swallowed.

"I am fine, see? Dad sees how fine I look, right? Right mom?"

Broly began clenching his fists again, gritting his teeth and Bok felt the tension in the room escalate and he stared at Choi.

"For goodness sake, Choi, just look at dad! If you keep this up he's going to lose it! You remember what Mom told us about Dad's anger, right?"

Choi's hands began to shake nervously and he was reaching for his head. He covered his face between his hands and his eyes were lit up with absolute panic now, staring ahead, muttering something to himself that Bok was able to interpret, though he could only make out some of it. "Please don't be mad," he kept repeating over and over again and Bok sighed, walking over to Broly. Cheelai laid Arugula down on the chair despite her grumbling and she approached Choi, stroking her son's mohawk.

"Choi, sweetie, it's going to be okay. Mommy's right here. She'll help calm your daddy down, okay?" she said amid Choi's ongoing mumbling of "please don't be mad" and she held him against her chest, closing her eyes. She could see Broly was struggling immensely with his anger and restrained his hands from moving up and she turned to Bok.

"Lemo's supposed to be back shortly with the drinks but I think you'll have to meet him half way and go to the cafeteria. I need to be alone with your father," she told him and caressed Choi's face in her hands.

"Choi, sweetie, go stay with Uncle Lemo and your brother. I'll stay with daddy, okay?" she spoke softly to soothe him and his eyes looked to be focused enough to understand what she was saying and Bok helped him to his feet. He was still considerably weakened from his fight and had to have his arm draped over Bok's shoulders to help support him. He approached Arugula and glanced at Cheelai.

"Take her too," she told him and he nodded. He picked up Arugula and held her with his free arm and the three kids left the room. Cheelai had to stand on the bed just to look at him in the eye well enough without straining her neck and she took his face in her hands.

"Please, keep it together for me, just for a bit longer," she said and Broly's hands shook as he reached up to hold her.

"I'm…trying…" he said and she sighed. She reached up and kissed him softly on the lips and looked at him in the eyes, which were shifting from black to yellow as his brow furrowed a few times.

"You've done so well controlling your anger. I'm so proud of you," she told him and he gently took hold of her hands, bringing them back down. He shook his head and put a hand to his face.

"I've never learned how to be a father. My father never taught me what raising a child was like, only that they must be trained how to be powerful warriors like me if the Saiyan bloodline is to be preserved."

"The bloodline, the bloodline, it's always about that damn bloodline with your dad whenever you bring it up," Cheelai frowned up at him and Broly closed his eyes.

"I know you still miss him, but this is our family, not his. We decide how we want this Saiyan bloodline to pass on and the less control we have over Choi, the more Saiyan he becomes; the part of the Saiyan I don't like seeing."

"I was not expecting him to transform into a Super Saiyan," Broly said. He had some measure of calm to his voice and stature but Cheelai was still cautious that his anger would rise up at any moment again.

"Yeah, it shocked all of us. But I guess it was going to happen sooner or later. Pretty soon Bok will be able to transform as well and both your boys will give you a run for your money," she said with a smirk on her face and Broly cracked a small grin. She took his hand in hers.

"Let's go join the kids. I'm pretty sure with your face like this Choi won't freak out," she told him and Broly sighed a moment.

"I don't want him to be afraid of me," he told her and she let go of his hand to put them both on his chest.

"If that's what it takes to get him to listen to me for once, then so be it," she said and walked off the bed to lead him out of the room. As they left, Pan, Uub, and Videl were coming down from the hallway and Pan waved at the two of them.

"Hi, it's us again!" she cried and Cheelai grinned, but frowned immediately when she spotted Videl, who looked at her cautiously as well. They stared at each other for a moment before turning their heads to look away, arms crossed.

"Did something happen between you two?" Uub asked and Cheelai glanced over at him, surprised.

"You recovered that fast?" she asked and Uub chuckled.

"Pan gave me a senzu bean," he told her and she sighed, smiling.

"Right, I forgot those were a thing. You didn't bring one for Choi, did you?" she looked at Pan out of curiosity and Pan shook her head.

"I only brought one for Uub because I need his help for something important. I actually need everyone's help. Things have gotten pretty serious involving my grandpa and my dad, as well as Bulla and her mom."

Broly was fully paying attention and stared down at her.

"What happened to Kakarot? Is he alright?"

"Kaka…oh, Goku's Saiyan name. He's fine, he and my dad are fighting an important battle. I was hoping to get together with the rest of you and tell you all what's been happening outside of the tournament. Oh! Who won by the way? I got so lost in all of this I forgot about the match between Uub and the bra-er-Choi," Pan quickly corrected herself in hopes of not making Broly and Cheelai upset and waited for a response.

"Um, well," Uub started but Cheelai raised her hand, cutting him off.

"It ended in a draw, they both passed out and couldn't beat the ten count from the announcer guy. So they both were declared winners by him apparently."

Uub raised his eyebrows, his eyes lighting up. A smile crossed his face as he thought for sure that he had lost that fight after he passed out, leaving the fate of the match up in the air wondering if Choi had gotten back up before the ten count. He felt elated to hear that news and didn't mind that he shared this victory with Choi given what he's been through. He bowed to her.

"Thank you very much for informing me. I'm pleased to share a victory with a worthy fighter such as your son. I hope to fight him again someday and prove myself his equal in battle."

Pan shot him a look, rolling her eyes and she walked over to Cheelai.

"Where'd your kids go? They're not with you?" she asked.

"In the cafeteria with Lemo. At least I hope they are," she said and led the group down to the cafeteria where Bok, Choi, Arugula, and Lemo were sitting. Arugula was sitting beside Bok, drinking from a juice box while Lemo helped Choi open up a bottle of juice. When Choi saw Uub, he stopped and glared at him. He slammed his hands on the table and stood up.

"What the hell?! How are you back on your feet so fast?! What's going on here?!" he cried out and gripped the table to keep himself steady and Lemo pulled him back down on the chair, opening the bottle of juice for him to shove it in his hands.

"Drink it and keep your trap shut," he told him and stood up, sighing. "Thank the gods you're here! You wouldn't believe the lip this kid's been having all the time we've been down here!"

"How's that any different than any other day, Lemo?" Cheelai asked him and Lemo glared at her.

"He had the audacity to beg for the food in this place! The NERVE of this kid, wanting bland, tasteless hospital food instead of my universal quality cooking that has had Lord Beerus salivating at the mere sight of it!"

"Well you take too damn long cooking it you old bat!" Choi yelled back at him and Lemo almost crushed the bottle in his hand.

"What was that?!"

"You heard me! You cook at a snail's pace, grandpa!" Choi cried out and Lemo growled, baring his teeth.

"You don't rush masterpieces of art, you moron! Only _amateurs_ have the patience to rush in on everything not stopping once to savour the greatness of the craft they're making! It's an insult to everything I ever stand for when I took up the chef's oath!"

"There's no such thing as a chef's oath," Cheelai muttered, getting a "you shut yer pie hole!" from Lemo and both Pan and Uub walked over to Bok and Arugula while the adults were arguing with Choi. Broly decided to tag along with the two and sat down next to his kid. When Arugula saw Pan, her face beamed.

"Pan-Pan!" she cried out and ran to jump into her arms. Pan held her tightly and closed her eyes, smiling widely. She ruffled her hair a moment and Arugula straightened it out immediately afterwards, giggling.

"Sorry I had to run off on you like that, but I hear that both your brother and Uub won together so at least Uub got his victory," she said and Arugula had an excited face, throwing her arms out wide.

"Red like a tomato! He went _whoosh_ , and _fwoosh_ , and he was all sparkly and red and everything shook so much and big brother had different colored hair that also went _whoosh_ and _fwoosh_ and they were all like _RAUGH_ and _FWAGH_!" she described how the two were fighting and Pan couldn't help but look down at her with loving eyes. _I hope my new sibling grows up just like you, Arugula_.

"So why'd you run off, if you don't mind me asking?" Bok said, not wanting to break this moment but he was genuinely curious about what's been happening.

Pan nodded and started explaining the situation involving two androids and evil energy that had infected Piccolo and Tien. As she was explaining their behaviour and the way their eyes looked, Arugula's hands began to shake, staring ahead. She crushed the juice box in her hand and the rest of the contents spilled out from inside onto her hand and the table and Pan glanced over at her.

"Arugula? What's wrong?" Pan said, glancing back at the others and Arugula had a petrified look on her face.

"Eyes…"

"Eyes? What about the eyes?"

"The eyes in the dark. Eyes in the dark, eyes in the dark…" Arugula kept muttering to herself and she backed away from the table.

"Hey, Arugula, you're scaring us. What do you mean by 'eyes in the dark'?" Bok asked and Arugula shook her head.

"They're coming, the eyes in the dark are coming!" she yelled and looked around the room frantically and Cheelai stopped herself mid-argument and immediately stared at her.

"Oh no, it's just like in her dream," she whispered, loud enough for some of them to hear and she rushed to take Arugula in her arms.

"The eyes in the dark are coming!" Arugula began sobbing through those words and she bawled again in Cheelai's chest as her mother was holding her and Pan had a hand to her mouth.

"Oh god, what did I do? I, I didn't mean to freak her out like this. Oh god, I'm so sorry," she said, almost on the verge of tears herself and Cheelai sighed, shaking her head.

"It's fine," she muttered and continued soothing Arugula down.

"Why does she keep saying 'eyes in the dark'? What does she mean by that?" Pan asked, and everyone but Lemo and Choi were hovering around Cheelai, who sat down with Arugula on a chair.

"Arugula's nightmare the other night. She woke up screaming and woke the rest of us in the process. It took me all day to finally get her to tell me what it was she had seen in the dream and all I could get out of her was: 'eyes in the dark' and," she hesitated, then looked up at Broly. "'daddy no'."

Broly's eyes widened as he stared down at her. "Why didn't you mention that part?"

"Knowing how much on edge you've been lately? You'd have popped your top much sooner knowing that she had a scary prophetic dream that for all intents and purposes might mean something really bad is going to happen to you. Do you think I'd want to put you through that?"

Broly sighed, shaking his head. "Maybe not. But how can we be sure that this is true or not?"

"Lemme ask you all something," Lemo chimed in, clearing his throat. "Has that kid ever been wrong once on her foresight?" they all paused and then a few gasped as they realized it all at once.

"Oh God…" Pan muttered to herself.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Arugula's got a strong sense of foresight and ESP, and whatever she saw in her dream is happening right now on this planet. I caught a bit of what you were saying but you're sure that these eyes had grid lines on them? Red grid lines?"

Pan nodded. "Yeah, and I know how Piccolo behaves and he would've never attacked us, Bulla, and her mom the way he did."

Lemo sighed and slumped down on his seat, removing the toque on his head. He rubbed his head a moment and put it back on, staring at each one with a look Cheelai had never seen on him before.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear: the only course of action to take is to get as many of your loved ones unaffected by this and get the hell off of this planet."

Pan's face lit up in shock and panic, as well as everyone else's. Videl rushed over to Lemo and bore down on him.

"Wait, what are you implying here?! Is my Gohan in danger?" she yelled and Lemo shot her a determined look that kept her at bay.

"The Saiyans or anyone with Saiyan blood on this planet aren't in any real danger. At least not yet, but everyone who doesn't carry their blood will become one of _them_. Dammit, I should've known she'd come up with something like this."

"Lemo, what the hell are you talking about?" Cheelai cried out and got the same look he gave Videl.

"I've been a soldier a lot longer than you have, Cheelai, serving as far back as the Cold Force and I've seen some shady things going on in the background involving some nefarious folks. Berryblue being one of them. There've been others in her close circle of friends, including a couple of Saiyans and I've heard rumors of a project murmured now and then to bring back a dead race killed by them. I can't remember the name off the top of my head but if my assumptions are correct, this project aims to resurrect that dead race and they're using the Earth's population here to achieve that."

"WHAT?!" Pan yelled, standing up. She looked at her mom and began to panic as well.

"You mean, my mom…might be infected by the same thing that's infected Uncle Piccolo and Tien?" she said, her voice shaking and Lemo stared at her. He didn't need to nod since his eyes told her all she needed to know and Pan sank into her chair, covering her mouth. "No…"

"I ain't saying it's a foregone conclusion that everyone'll be infected. You got a lot of strong fighters on this planet and so long as we take out the source of this 'virus', there's a way to save this planet. But my suggestion is to hightail it outta here before the problem becomes too big to handle."

"What about me? Am I at risk too?" Cheelai asked and Lemo shook his head, shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't know, you're not human. The only way I know for sure is to return to Bloss and retrieve all the old files I've got during my time in the Cold Force. I might've written some stuff down at the time based on all the rumours I've compiled. But our best course of action right now is to stick together and not wander off. You got a place we can crash in the meantime?" he asked Pan and she nodded.

"Yeah, it's where Bulla and her mom are staying at. Capsule Corporation."

Cheelai and Broly exchanged looks, then at Lemo. They vaguely remembered Capsule Corporation the last time they were on Earth years ago but they all agreed. Cheelai glanced down at Arugula, who had calmed down after a moment and was staring outward, head close to Cheelai so should listen to her heart beat, which had climbed fast for a moment in the ongoing panic.

Uub stood up and nodded at everyone. "I can take everyone there with my instantaneous movement."

Pan took Uub's hand in hers and nodded at him. _Ugh, this is so much to take in. I REALLY should've traded with the other Pan._

"There'll be food there, I hope?" Choi said and Pan glared at him. The stress had mounted so much that hearing him speak set her off and she was almost on top of him.

"Shut up! Shut your damn mouth you stupid ignorant brat! I hate your voice and everything you say from that damn mouth of yours! You don't give a damn about anyone but yourself and I'm getting really sick of it!" she breathed heavily, fists clenched and ready to fight him again and all eyes were on the two of them. Lemo glanced back at Choi and shook his head.

"If you can wait for me to make something for ya, will that shut your trap for five minutes?" he asked and Choi crossed his arms, looking away. "Idiot girl…"

"What was that?! You want another broken nose?! I'll be glad to do so again!" she yelled and Uub held her back, shaking his head when she shot him a look.

"Pan, stop letting him antagonize you like that, it's not good for any of us right now," he said calmly and gave Choi a look regardless, frowning. Choi eyed him carefully but didn't say anything. Cheelai could feel the tension rise again as she caught an emotional spike from Broly, who steeled himself again as he sat on his chair, clutching the table so much he broke chunks off of it and it shocked everyone. He sighed as he gently placed the broken piece on top of the table and stood up.

"Let us go. This place upsets me," he said and they all agreed.

"If I have to wake up in another hospital bed, I'll puke," Choi said, rolling his eyes and Bok helped him to his feet. Pan glared at him as he approached the group and they all joined hands. Broly touched the top of Bok's head, who was holding Cheelai as she had Arugula safely in her arm. Her hand was holding Lemo's, who had joined in with Pan as she gave Uub's hand a squeeze. She glanced up at Uub and gave him a loving gaze as Uub put two fingers to his head and focused on the mass of energy that was in Capsule Corporation, getting a feel for Bulla's energy.

"It's faint but I can still feel Bulla's energy enough to get a lock on. Standby everyone," he said and within seconds the group disappeared, much to the shock of passersby who were in the vicinity. They avoided the heated discussion and yelling that was taking place and some of the staff advised others to stay away from the group as not to antagonize anyone and were left dumbfounded as to what had just happened.

Around the same time, the announcer strolled into Choi's room. "Congratulat-huh? Where'd everyone go?"

He looked around the empty room and sighed, holding one of the metal briefcases that had the prize money in them, a replica of the championship belt under his arm. His other arm had another replica belt and another metal briefcase with the same amount of money and he frowned.

"Just like Goku, they can't stay put for one moment, can they?"

 **One enters, another leaves…**

Gotenks few up to engage Glacial and gave a thumbs up to Goku.

"Don't you worry about anything, Goku! We've got this girly droid covered," the dual voice of the fused warrior told him. He still had the same look and outfit as any Metamoran fused person would with white baggy pants, black vest with puffed gold trimmings, and his hair was a mix of Goten's with Trunk's lavender streaked within. He gloated at Glacial with his fists on his hips and she didn't seem to really care.

"It's been a while since we last jumped on the scene, but you'll be great practice to get the rust out of our fighting. Prepare yourself, lady!" Gotenks told her, pointing at her and giving her the thumbs down and Goku gave him a look that said "get on with it" and he resumed his fight with Tundra. Gotenks and Glacial hovered around each other and she gave him a wide smile.

"It doesn't matter how many of you monkeys fuse together, the end result's still the same," she quipped and Gotenks frowned.

"We'll make you eat those monkey words, you ugly excuse for a robot," he said and made a high speed burst that clipped the side of her face. Her eyes widened as she brought hand to her cheek and a silvery liquid seeped out. Her smile disappeared and she glared back at Gotenks, clenching her fist.

"Lucky shot," she muttered and Gotenks chuckled a bit, disappearing and reappearing behind her again, only another cut appeared on the opposite side of her face and she started losing her cool, staring at him.

"Too fast for ya, huh? That's okay, it happens sometimes," he told her and she narrowed her eyes. She raised her left hand and studied the back of it, glancing over it at Gotenks with a smirk on her face.

"I only need to hit you once," she whispered and rushed at him. The two clashed fists together and Gotenks deflected her left away from him, flipping over her to drive the back of his heel down on her head and it knocked her down to the earth, crashing into the soil. She glared up at him and took off, trying to throw punches but Gotenks easily blocked and deflected them away from him. She grew more frustrated at him and aimed a few precise energy beams from her fingers at him. He flew around to avoid them and pointed to the sky, spinning his finger around several times to create an energy ring. Glacial stared up at it cautiously and flew around to get in a good shot from another finger beam and she paired it with eye lasers. Gotenks moved around to avoid the blasts like before and as he hovered above Glacial, he sent the energy ring coming down and it quickly constricted around her, binding her arms to her body.

"What the hell is this?" she cried and stared up at him. She continued firing eye lasers up at him and Gotenks cupped his hands together. Her eyes widened as she was unable to escape and Gotenks snickered.

"Hehe, say bye-bye, girly droid! Kamehameha!" he yelled and fired a huge blue energy wave at her, making sure to avoid hitting the earth below. It enveloped her and she screamed as it shredded her body. When the energy wave ceased, Gotenks flashed a V sign with his hand.

"Yeah, that's how its done!" he said and glanced down at the earth. He saw puddles of silver colored goo coalesce and merge together, reforming Glacial and his eyes widened in shock.

"She's just like that Majin Buu freak!" he cried and when Glacial reformed herself, she grinned up at him.

"You almost had me there. Too bad," she said and thrust her palm forward, hitting Gotenks with a powerful psychic wave that blew him to the sky, causing him to flip several times before he corrected himself.

Tundra and Goku were trading blows with their punches and kicks, Goku smiling at how good the challenge was to him and Tundra matched that smile as well.

"You're every bit the despicable scumbag uncle Freeza said you were," he said and Goku blocked a fist, returning one that connected with Tundra's face, sending him flying down into the ocean water. Goku followed up his attack by rapidly firing energy blasts into the water. Tundra burst out with a huge splash and concentrated a sonic wave up at Goku, who moved with his instantaneous movement to appear behind him and fire off a huge energy beam that Tundra had no time to avoid and it wiped the top half of him completely.

Goku thought for a moment that it would've killed him immediately but the top half regenerated itself with the same silvery goo that Glacial had and Tundra reformed himself, smiling down at Goku.

"Regeneration, huh?" he said and Tundra snickered down at him.

"It wouldn't be a challenge if we weren't built with the proper features. Father took every liberty and ounce of research to create the perfect bio-androids to carry out not only our orders but to give birth to 'Project Nion.'"

"I don't care about any Nion project you guys got going! Go take the other one and get off this planet!" Goku cried out, flying up to be at eye-level with Tundra.

"We'll leave this planet only after we've obtained your Dragonballs, which seemed to have made their way out in that direction," Tundra said, pointing behind him. Goku didn't bother staring past him, his eyes were still focused on the bio-android in front of him and Tundra readied himself for another round of combat, which Goku acknowledged with a smile on his face.

Gohan handled Piccolo and Tien with ease, powering up to make sure he was strong enough to handle the two at once and he blocked a few energy blasts from Tien while deflecting a mouth blast from Piccolo. The infected Namekian followed up with a few eye lasers that Gohan swerved to avoid and he focused some of his attacks on Tien. He hit him hard in the face and gut with several punches and knocked him down to the ground, then a hand grabbed him from above. He stared behind him and saw that Piccolo had stretched his arm to grab Gohan's ankle while he was busy knocking Tien down and Gohan flew up, pulling Piccolo up with him. He freed himself from the grip on his ankle and made a few high speed bursts around Piccolo to get in a few hits and he scored one on the back of Piccolo's head. The Namekian didn't seem to be phased and he kept that emotionless smile on Gohan. He fired several energy blasts around Gohan one-handed, not bothering where he was aiming and Gohan's eyes widened.

"He's using _that_ technique," Gohan whispered and he screamed, powering up even more. He prepared himself and flew around to draw the energy balls that Piccolo surrounded him with. They were following him as he flew around and he stopped himself in the air, unleashing a powerful shout that dissipated the energy balls. Piccolo flew up while Gohan was distracted and had two fingers to his forehead from his one arm and fired a Special Beam Cannon at Gohan while his back was turned.

Gohan sensed the energy coming his way and flipped over it, flying down to strike at Piccolo. The Namekian let go of his attack and blocked Gohan's punch and the two were blocking each other's attacks until Piccolo slipped up and Gohan sliced off his other arm with a quick swipe of his hand and Piccolo looked down at his severed arms.

"This has to stop, Piccolo! If there's any part of you that's still in control, fight this thing and get rid of it!" Gohan shouted but Piccolo kept smiling at him.

"Typical Saiyan brutality. It doesn't matter how many limbs you cut off from this one, it will not stop the strong will of the Tsufurian race!" Piccolo shouted and fired a mouth blast at Gohan.

"What?!" Gohan had to quickly deflect the energy attack away from him and Piccolo rushed at him, now attacking him with kicks from his legs. Gohan stared at him in frustration and his senses picked up another fluctuation of power from below.

"Crap, I forgot about Tien!" he said and Tien had his hands in front of his face, smiling maniacally up at Gohan.

"SHIN-KIKOHO!" he screamed and fired a huge wave of energy up at Gohan, who's eyes widened. _I'll take quite a bit of damage if that hits me._

When he braced himself for the impact, a flash of light burst forth underneath and Gohan shielded his eyes with his arm. He sensed a kick coming from Piccolo and blocked it, gaining some distance away from him.

"Who?" he asked, wondering what it was that stopped the Kikoho from reaching him and when the light faded, he saw Android 17 hovering below him with an energy barrier set up around him, wide enough to block the whole attack from reaching them.

"17, thank goodness you're here," Gohan said and flew down to meet him.

"I caught sight of some fighting going on above this island and I was wondering what was causing all this disturbance," he said and Gohan nodded.

"I'll fill you in later, but right now, we have to find a way to knock Piccolo and Tien out. They've been possessed by some dark energy that's corrupted their minds and made them think they're people called 'Tsufurians'. What's worse, there's two androids made by Freeza and his brother sent here to get the Dragonballs."

"A brother, huh? I'm not surprised a guy like Freeza would have family out there," 17 said and Gohan glanced back at Piccolo.

"I'll handle Piccolo, do what you can to knock Tien out without killing him. If he dies, the Dragonballs won't revive him."

"That's fine. As long as there's not too much destruction on these islands, I'll make sure to be gentle with him," he said and began engaging Tien down below. His speed was considerably faster than Tien's and he knocked him around a few times, sending him up with an uppercut and blasting him a few times with energy blasts. But Tien laughed it off and stared down at him with the same crazed look he gave Gohan and 17 frowned. "Guess gentle isn't going to cut it."

Goku continued fighting off Tundra, who fired off another sonic wave down at him from above and Goku unleashed an energy shout that blew back against it, but most of the sonic wave hit the ground, tearing the earth and foliage below it with the intense vibration and Goku glared up at him. Tundra laughed it off and the two continued to engage each other, Goku leading Tundra away from the island towards where Gohan and Android 17 were fighting and he grinned when he saw the android.

"Awesome, I'm glad to see 17's here," he said and frowned when he saw Tien's face and Piccolo without his arms fighting Gohan with kicks and mouth blasts. He glared back at Tundra and gritted his teeth, flying down to android 17, knocking Tien away across the island to crash into the ocean.

"Goku?"

"Sorry to barge in like that, but switch out with me for a moment," he told him and 17 glanced up to see Tundra flying down towards him, extending his hand to fire another sonic wave that 17 blocked with a large energy barrier that vibrated from the impact.

"Gohan briefly filled me in. So Freeza built himself his own androids?" 17 asked.

"Yeah. I dunno if this'll work but there's gotta be a way to stop the evil energy inside Tien and Piccolo. I only need a few seconds to pull it off."

"Understood. What do you have in mind?" he asked.

"It sorta dawned on me when I first heard about this evil energy. The more I sensed how they were fighting and how this energy worked, the more I got to thinkin' that there might be a way to neutralize it completely without killing them."

"Do what you need to do, I'll keep this one occupied," 17 said and used a burst of speed to fly up towards Tundra, who looked down at him in confusion.

"You're not a Saiyan, you have no place in this battlefield. Get lost," Tundra said, frowning.

"You're the ones who should get lost. You're trespassing on these islands and I have a duty to protect the endangered species inhabiting them."

Tundra laughed. "An android concerned for the living? That's amusing!"

He prepped an energy attack to throw down at the island below him and was rocked hard in the face by a punch from 17, sending him flying back. He pursued him until he caught his ankle and spun him around to throw him into the ocean.

Gotenks and Glacial were in the midst of their fight when he blew off her limbs with energy blasts. When they regenerated immediately, Gotenks frowned.

"That's cheating, you know!" he cried out and Glacial shrugged her shoulders.

"So what if it is? I didn't design these specs. But give credit to Father, he had a lot of info to go on," she said and fired a few blasts from her fingers that Gotenks deflected and he screamed, powering up and transforming into a Super Saiyan.

"Time to get serious," he said and from his mouth he began blowing white translucent mist-like bubbles that formed into copies of himself, though the bottom half was a tail-like wisp. He created ten copies and crossed his arms as the copies loafed around, some cleaning out their ears while others were making faces at Glacial, who looked back in confusion.

"Huh? This wasn't in Father's data," she muttered and Gotenks chuckled.

"Data or not, I hope you're a good dancer," he said and she frowned, glaring at him.

"What the hell does that even mean?!"

Gotenks put two fingers to his mouth and whistled, drawing the attention of the copies to line up. They made sure not to touch each other and Gotenks pointed at Glacial.

"You two, to my right! Go and dance with this girly droid!" he commanded and the two copies flew over to her, who gritted her teeth and fired energy blasts at them. They swerved to avoid her and one of them grabbed her hands in a dancing pose while the other hugged her from behind.

"Augh, gross! Get off me you pervs!" she shouted and she was immediately shocked by the flash when they lit up. She screamed as the exploded and huge chunks of her was blown off completely, leaving two gaping holes where most of her upper body was, arms missing. Half her face had been blown off completely, the other half staring at Gotenks and the remaining eight copies with panic in her eye.

When she regenerated, she growled at Gotenks and channeled energy to conjure a large sphere above her head that expanded in size.

"I will not be mocked like this by monkey scum, fused or not!" she screamed and glared fiercely down at Gotenks.

"Let's go!" Gotenks shouted and the remaining eight flew up to her, forcing her to throw the sphere down at them. It caught three of the copies as it flew down and the rest moved below it to fly up at Glacial, who fired energy blasts, taking out two of them before the last three clung onto her and exploded. Gotenks screamed and powered up even higher, transforming into his Super Saiyan 3 form and he caught the energy sphere, pushing it back up and kicking it out of the earth's orbit. When the explosion stopped, silvery goo fell down and stopped to reform itself back into Glacial, who was breathing a bit after she reformed herself.

"That one took a lot out of ya, didn't it? A little more of that and you won't have the energy to regenerate yourself," Gotenks said with a smirk on his face and Glacial glared up at him.

Gohan was aware that Goku and Android 17 had switched places and he sensed Goku concentrating on the ground, out of his Super Saiyan state into his base form. _Wait, is he doing what I think he's doing?_

Kicking Piccolo hard in the stomach, he flew over to where Goku stood and knocked Tien away as he was flying back to attack Goku, who was standing still with his eyes closed. Gohan stood in front of him and glanced behind him.

"Father, I hope you know what you're doing. I'll buy you enough time," he said and saw a smile appear on Goku's face. He moved around Goku with high speed bursts, appearing in front of Tien and Piccolo as they came for them to knock them away with either a punch or an energy blast and Goku had his hands out. He felt a trickle of energy gather around him from the foliage and the animals, stopping there to look down at his hands. They were both glowing with a warm white light and he nodded.

"Good, this should be enough," he said and he saw Tien fly to Gohan's blind side and he slapped one of his hands against Tien's back to knock him back down and the energy from his hand enveloped his body. He flew up to engage Piccolo and avoided a kick to slam his other palm against his chest and Piccolo fell to the ground. Gohan's eyes widened as he stared down at the two and they were both writhing and screaming in agony, Tien clutching his head. Piccolo screamed and thrashed on the ground as the white glow surrounded him and the evil energy was seen seeping out of him to try and escape but the white glow absorbed it and the two energies disappeared. When it ceased, Tien was lying down motionless on the ground and Piccolo grunted as he tried to sit up and Gohan breathed a sigh of relief, rushing to help him to his feet. Goku leaned down and checked on Tien's vitals and frowned, closing his eyes as he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Tien," he whispered and put his hand on Tien's head. He stood back up and walked over to Gohan and Piccolo, who recovered enough to notice that his arms were still gone and he grunted and screamed shortly afterwards, re-growing them. He breathed heavily for a moment and almost lost his footing but Gohan was quick to hold him steady.

"Easy there, Piccolo, I got you," he said and Piccolo put a hand to his head.

"Do you remember anything you did?" Goku asked him and Piccolo shook his head.

"Nothing. After I engaged Tien and he touched me with this strange energy, everything went dark for me. If my mind and body went on auto-pilot afterwards, I'm terribly sorry for anything I did."

"It wasn't your fault. Whatever had a hold of you was strong enough to have complete control. If I gathered too much energy for the Spirit Bomb, I migth've killed you," Goku said, but frowned when he glanced down at Tien. Gohan's eyes widened and Piccolo grunted as they saw Tien's motionless body on the ground.

"It was all I could do to get rid of the evil energy inside him but he had damaged himself too much to survive afterwards. I'm sorry," he said, clenching his fist and he glared up at the two androids in the air.

"Damn you," he growled, his fist shaking and he powered up all the way to his Super Saiyan 2 form before he took to the air.

"Dad, wait!" Gohan shouted and Piccolo caught him in the shoulder before he could move.

"It'll be fine," Piccolo said and almost fell forward. Gohan caught him and helped him sit down against a tree. He walked over and picked up Tien's body and brought him over to lay him down beside him.

"I need you to tell me everything that I did while this energy had a hold of me," he said and Gohan nodded. He recounted their fight and the mention of the Tsufurian race and Piccolo's face grew paler as he listened, glancing up at Goku as he was fighting Tundra more aggressively. He glanced down at Tien and grumbled. _Damn you, Freeza._

Goku was more precise in his attacks as he was fueled now by his anger over the loss of Tien and he rushed past Android 17 to attack Tundra, which stunned the android for a moment. He didn't notice Goku move past him and watched as Goku was hitting Tundra with heavy blows, a combination of hard punches and kicks that culminated into a Kamehameha blast that would've obliterated the bio-android but the limbs that weren't destroyed shifted into that same silvery goo that regenerated Tundra back whole and Goku glared down at him.

"It's no surprise to us that you fight better when you're angry, Goku!" Tundra laughed and Goku kept staring down at him. Glacial and Gotenks were making their way back to Tundra and she stopped beside him.

"He's giving you trouble again, isn't he?" she said but wasn't smiling when she said it. She was still considerably angry at Gotenks who along with Goku and Android 17, took up fighting poses in front of the two.

"Where's the two that were infected?" Glacial asked, scanning the area below.

"I got them back to their senses, but Tien was too damaged to survive it," Goku said and the two bio-androids frowned.

"So there _is_ a way to reverse the infection. That's not good," Glacial said, but cracked a smile that threw Goku off.

"Tell me how you did it? I'm curious to know," she asked, her smile disappearing quickly to stare at him with a serious expression.

"Since you guys know so much about us, you should be very familiar with the Spirit Bomb technique I used on your Uncle a long time ago," Goku said with a slight grin on his face, remembering how much damage it had done to Freeza during their first fight before things went very badly and he transformed into a Super Saiyan for the first time.

"That bothersome technique? How pathetic that it worked," she stated.

"It should've been obvious because of the evil energy that was infecting my friends that the Spirit Bomb can neutralize it by attacking the evil part itself. I only needed enough gathered to take it out without killing them, but making Tien destroy his body like that was dirty and you've gone and made me mad now."

Goku clenched his fists and was about to power up but Glacial put a hand up to stop him.

"Before you decide to take this seriously, I wanted to ask you something," she said and Goku paused.

"I ain't got time for games!" he shouted but she shook her head, chuckling.

"So impatient. I'll waste no more of your time then if you're so eager to fight us. Have you ever asked yourself why Uncle Freeza decided not to show his face here? Why would he send us to gather the Dragonballs if he could easily do the job himself?"

Goku paused. "How should I know? All I know is that you guys are after the Dragonballs and we lost a good friend because of it!"

Tundra chimed in. "Oh but it should make you curious, shouldn't it? You know Uncle Freeza better than anyone else here. Aren't you curious as to why this isn't something he normally does? Uncle's the kind of person to get the job done himself, is he not?"

Goku glanced at 17 and Gotenks, frowning. He felt a bit puzzled now and stared back at the androids.

"Where're you going with this?"

Glacial chuckled a bit. "Use that monkey brain of yours and think, Goku." She grinned and Goku clenched his fist even tighter.

"Enough of this! Tell me what this is all about, now! Tell me why Freeza isn't here to get the Dragonballs himself? Why would he have two androids do the job for him?! I wish I knew what the heck's going on but this isn't like Freeza to not come here and gather the Dragonballs. He's done it before."

Glacial glared at him with a menacing smile. "The actual question you should be asking yourself is this: 'When _hasn't_ Freeza decided to go after the Dragonballs?'"

Goku paused, then his eyes widened. "It can't be."

Glacial posed with a hand to her face and glanced at Tundra. "Now he gets it."

"What is she talking about?" 17 asked him and Gotenks stifled a yawn.

"All this talking is eating away at my fusion time. Let's get this fight going again!" he said and charged forth at Glacial, who blocked at punch from him that sent her flying back from the impact. 17 glanced at Goku for a moment.

"What's wrong? Why are you hesitating?" he asked and Goku glanced at him.

"Because I know where Freeza went," he said and flew down to meet up with Gohan and Piccolo. 17 frowned but knocked away a punch from Tundra who had to block a retaliatory barrage from 17 that sent him flying back and he stopped beside Glacial.

Gohan ran up to Goku. "Father, what's wrong?"

Goku powered down to his base form and stared at his son.

"Dad?"

"I know now why he sent these androids to get the Dragonballs here on Earth. He's using them as a distraction so he could get the Dragonballs on Namek and make his wish."

Gohan's shocked look wasn't surprising to Goku and he stared up at the battle ahead.

"So what are you going to do?" Gohan asked and Goku paused, not saying anything. He put a hand on Gohan's shoulder and gave him a loving smile.

"You've grown so much over the years. I'm very proud of all that you've accomplished in your life, son," Goku said and Gohan blinked for a moment. He felt his heart beat a little faster.

"Dad, you're saying this as though you think you're not going to survive this oncoming battle," Gohan told him and Goku glanced up at the battle as well.

"Hah, maybe. But I know I can trust you guys to defend the planet from those androids. They ain't all that strong to begin with but their regeneration ability makes them very resilient. Hit them with all your power and you can win this."

"Right," Gohan said and turned to Piccolo, who was watching them.

"I'll take you to Capsule Corporation, I sense the whole group's gathered over there," he said and helped Piccolo to his feet. He grabbed Tien's arm and put two fingers to his forehead.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"You know this is a trap, right?" Gohan asked and Goku gave him a smile, knowing that he's aware he's heading into the lion's den. "They wouldn't have baited you to go to Namek if they weren't sure Freeza had an upper hand in all this. And there's also that brother of his that we don't know anything about. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Gohan and Piccolo glanced at each other, then at Goku, who nodded.

"Sometimes the best way to disarm a trap is to spring it," he said and disappeared, taking Piccolo and Tien with him. Gohan flew back up to join 17 and Gotenks, who were pushing Tundra and Glacial back with their barrage of blows.

When the androids were pushed back against one another, they both looked at each other and frowned.

"I didn't think we needed to do this so soon, but they've been pushing us back a lot, sister," Tundra said and Glacial nodded.

"I was hoping to use my other arm against that fused Saiyan but I guess _this_ method will be even better," she said and the two flew up to stare the three down.

"It's a shame Goku can't be witness to this!" Tundra shouted and he powered up, surrounding himself with a white-blue aura. Glacial did the same but her aura had a hint of pinkish purple to it. The two bio-androids both smiled at the trio and Gohan frowned.

"What are you two up to?" he asked but the bio-androids didn't respond. Their auras glowed brighter as their power skyrocketed and Gohan's eyes widened as the two moved into each other, swirling around to mix together.

"Fusion?!" Gohan shouted and 17 frowned. Gotenks glared at the two androids as they began merging together and crossed his arms and legs while floating in the air.

"Hmph, lame. Meeting fusion with fusion shouldn't be allowed in a fight," he said and got a look from Gohan.

"Be on guard, don't waste too much of the rest of your fusion time. Whatever this is we have to be ready for it," Gohan said and 17 nodded, preparing a barrier just in case.

When the light faded, a single entity emerged, the fused body of Tundra and Glacial smiling at them with its eyes closed. It opened them and they were normal eyes like Freeza but with a similar sheen of translucence from their Tsufurian upgrades but crimson red in color. Their muscular structure looked bigger all around and it had a more masculine look to it, with horns protruding from their forearms, shoulders, and head, like a crown with a purple jewel embedded on the front of it. Similar grid lines of their Tsufurian upgrades, the red and yellow wiring that was on the individual foreheads of the bio-androids was also on this one's face, and more of their wiring was traced along their arms, shoulders, and chest. When it raised and clenched a fist at the three, it spoke with a mostly masculine voice, though Glacial's voice could still be heard along with it.

"We are Tundral. We will make quick work of the three of you," it said and shot a powerful sonic wave that pushed the three of them back, even against 17's energy barrier, which the sonic wave shattered as quickly as he had formed it. Gohan's eyes widened. _Not even 17's barrier was strong enough to contain it!_

He glanced at Gotenks and frowned. He wasn't sure how much time was left in their fusion and began to wonder if they were strong enough to handle this new being. It sent another powerful sonic wave down at the island and it tore it apart completely, sending foliage and animals flying away and 17's face looked on in horror. Tundral laughed after it lowered its arm and clenched its fist at the three.

"Sorry about that, my aim must've been off there," it said and 17 glared at him. Gohan raised his hand.

"Wait, we have to plan this carefully. We can't just go in blind and expect to come out on top. This thing's way stronger than I thought it would be."

17 reluctantly nodded and flew over to Gohan's side. Gohan motioned for Gotenks to do the same.

"Try and find any blind spots, we need to get this thing distracted enough to attack and get in as much damage. I'm hopeful we can hit it enough times to defuse it," he said and 17 nodded.

"Let me start things off, brother!" Gotenks shouted and Gohan raised his arm in protest. "Gotenks, wait!"

Gotenks ignored him and went on the offensive, attacking Tundral. It blocked the fused Super Saiyan 3 with ease and Gotenks quickly began blowing a bubble for another of his Super Ghost Kamikaze attacks but Tundral grabbed him by his long hair and shoved the bubble back into his mouth to stop it and Gotenks's eyes widened as the bubble exploded, sending him flying down to the earth. When he landed, he immediately defused back into Goten and Trunks and they were sprawled on the ground, unconscious. Gohan watched the whole thing take place with panic in his eyes and he glared at Tundral.

"Damn you!" he shouted and 17 studied the fused bio-android carefully.

"Direct attacks aren't the way to go then," he noted and Gohan glanced down at his brother and Trunks. _You knew, didn't you? That's why you rushed him when you did._

Gohan yelled as he burst forth in his well of power, his ultimate form glowing brightly in front of Tundral and 17 readied himself with another barrier, waiting.

"Sword and Shield strategy," 17 told him and Gohan nodded.

"Right."

 **Two Saiyans leave for Namek…**

When Goku appeared with Piccolo and Tien at Capsule Corporation, he saw Uub and the group he teleported with in front of the building's entrance and Pan was elated to see her grandfather appear.

"Grandpa!" she shouted and ran up to jump in his arms for a hug. Goku smiled at the loving gesture and the rest of them walked over to meet up with him. Pan glanced over and saw Piccolo, who smiled up at her and she teared up, rushing to wrap her arms around him.

"Uncle! You're back! Thank goodness!" she cried, holding him tightly and he laughed softly, holding her. He staggered forward a bit and Uub was quick to hold him aloft before he fell forward.

"Thank you," he said and Uub looked up at Pan.

"Tell me you have more Senzu beans available!" he shouted and Pan nodded. She detached herself from Piccolo and nodded. She became a flash of light and flew back inside, confusing everyone, Videl included.

"Ehhh? What did Pan just do?" she asked and Goku pondered it for a moment, then nodded, smiling.

"Her split form technique. Her original body's probably already inside the building and the copy went back to rejoin with her," Goku said and Videl looked at him confused.

"Wait a minute, then the whole time Pan was with me and everyone here it wasn't even her but a copy?"

"Not a copy, it's still Pan, but she split into two separate beings that are both the same person. She's worked hard on that technique during her training that she can pull it off without losing energy," Goku explained but Videl glanced behind her, her face becoming angrier.

"So she really wanted to avoid seeing me! Sending a copy to see me when she couldn't do it herself! OOOH!"

Uub gulped, wondering how this was going to go once the original Pan was coming out and she rushed out of the building with a bag in her hand. She stopped when she saw Videl but immediately rushed to hand a senzu bean to Piccolo.

"Uncle, here you go," she said and Videl stood behind her, arms crossed and glaring down at her.

"I take back anything I might've said about you earlier, Pan. You're in a lot of trouble now!" she said and Pan stared back up defiantly.

"When my copy rejoined me, I gained all the memories and experiences she had when we were separate so I know what happened, mom."

"That's beside the point. You deceived me with that trick of yours and once your father comes back, we'll discuss a suitable punishment for you."

"Hey, what's up with that guy?" Lemo asked, walking up to Goku as he stared down at Tien. Goku frowned and Piccolo put his hand on Goku's shoulder.

"Let me explain this time," he said. "First of all, Tien's dead."

Pan gasped, looking down at Tien's lifeless form. "Oh god…"

She looked up at Goku. "Was there nothing you could do to help him?"

"No, he was too far damaged by overuse of his Kikoho attack to do anything. I cleansed the evil energy from both of them with the Spirt Bomb but that evil energy was the only thing keeping him alive by the time I helped him. I'm sorry, everyone."

"More importantly, we've got a far worse situation on us from not only here but on Namek as well," Piccolo stated and everyone was looking at him. He began explaining what had happened and filled in the gaps Goku helped him with, with Lemo nodding with his arms crossed.

"Tsufurians," he muttered, sighing.  
"You know something about Tsufurians?" Goku asked and Lemo nodded.

"Yeah, they're the race of people the Saiyans destroyed on Planet Plant during King Cold's reign when Vegeta's ancestors were in charge. They later renamed it Planet Vegeta in his honor."

"No way," Cheelai said and Lemo gave her a look. He glanced up at Broly, then at Goku and sighed again.

"This new bit of information is making me think more clearly now. But I still need access to the files back home in order to paint a grander picture. Tsufurians are the most intelligent species that existed in the Universe, far superior than what you'd find here on earth. Your Dr. Bulma is smart, but she pales in comparison to Berryblue and Nion."

"Nion?" Goku asked.

"A Saiyan Scientist who worked with Berryblue and Kikono who studied Tsufurian technology while monitoring Saiyan newborns. I don't know much else but word of their exploits traveled often among the Cold Force of how close those three were along with a couple other scientists, but Nion was often heard speaking of her disdain for the Saiyan race, despite the discovery of Broly's potential."

"How do you know all this?" asked Cheelai, setting Arugula back down to walk over to Pan and the two held hands.

"I did as much research as I could on these secret cliques in the Freeza Force when he took over and after he destroyed Planet Vegeta. It was all I could do to dig up this much information but I'd have to infiltrate more databanks on one of Freeza's planets to get more info. You have that strange teleportation technique, right Goku? You can take me right away to Bloss and I can start looking in on this," Lemo asked and Goku frowned.

"Sorry, but with what's happening on Namek, I'm afraid I won't have time to get you to your home planet."

"Tch, figures," Lemo said, crossing his arms and Uub piped up.

"I can do it, master," he said and Goku shook his head.

"You haven't trained enough with instantaneous movement to properly do it, not knowing where their planet is in the first place. Your best bet is to stay here and make sure everyone's safe. Broly."

Broly glanced at him and Goku stared up at him with a serious expression on his face. He extended his hand over to him.

"I need a strong fighter to come with me to Namek," he told him and Cheelai's eyes widened.

"Like hell he's going with you!" she shouted and everyone stared at her. Arugula paused, walking up to the two Saiyans.

"Daddy? Are you going away?" she asked, her voice shaking, and Broly felt his heart sink and his stomach wrench.

"I can't, I can't abandon my family, Kakarot," he said and clenched his fist.

"You heard what we just talked about, though. Freeza's on Namek but he's not alone. He's got a brother who might be just as strong and I can't defeat them both together, even at maximum power with Super Saiyan Blue and Kaioken."

"Why not get Vegeta to fight with you?" Cheelai asked and Goku shook his head.

"There's no time to go all the way to Lord Beerus's world to get him. This needs to happen now or we'll lose the best chance we have of stopping not only these androids here but to save everyone that might be infected, as well as bringing Tien back to life."

"Slow down! I don't understand what's going on," she told him.

"The Namekian Dragonballs are far stronger than the ones we have here on Earth. Their dragon can revive someone as many times as he can, but Shenron can't because he can't grant the same wish twice. And the Namekian dragon is the only one to bring me back in case something happens and I don't make it."

"No!" Pan shouted. "Don't say things like that! You're not going to die on me, Grandpa! We'll all go together to Namek to stop that Freeza monster and whatever brother he's with and make sure those Namekians are safe!"

"No Pan, it's too dangerous for you to go. You need to stay here and protect Broly's family with Uub and Bulla. They're safer here."

"Is there really no other option, Kakarot?" Broly asked and Goku shook his head.

"I wasn't expecting to involve you like this, but I need your power. If you've having trouble controlling your anger, you can unleash it on Freeza and his brother. He won't know what hit him and you were pretty good against him last time as a Super Saiyan. Please, I need your help. I wouldn't be asking otherwise if it was just Freeza."

"No!" Arugula shouted and ran in front of Broly, stretching her arms out. "Don't take daddy away!"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Cheelai asked, taking his arm in her hands and he stared down at her, then at his children. Closing his eyes, he nodded.

"Yes, I will help you, Kakarot. If these Dragonballs are that important to you, I will do what I can to prevent Freeza and his brother from making their wish."

"No, please! Daddy, no! Don't go, daddy!" Arugula cried and pleaded, clutching him around his leg. Cheelai sighed and pulled her off him to take her in her arms and she struggled to break free to grab Broly and prevent him from leaving but Cheelai was able to hold her at bay.

"Promise me you'll both come back?" she asked Goku, who sighed and nodded, glancing up at Broly. Arugula couldn't contain herself and began bawling again in Cheelai's shoulder and Broly gently patted her head, stroking her back.

"I'm sorry, Arugula. Your daddy has something very important he needs to do. I'll come back, I promise," he whispered and Cheelai squeezed his hand. He reached up to caress her cheek and she sighed into it, closing her eyes. She glanced at the two and nodded, walking out of their way. Broly moved over to Bok and Choi, who stared up at him.

"You don't want us tagging along, dad?" Bok asked, glancing at Choi.

"No. Freeza is a dangerous person, too much for you both to handle," he told them and Choi smirked.

"Only the more reason to fight him, then. You're the strongest Saiyan in the universe, dad, you got this," he said, the first decent thing he's ever said to his loved one and Broly ruffled both his sons' hair before he walked over to Goku. He nodded at Lemo, then at the others and then stood before Goku.

"I'm ready," he said and Goku nodded taking his hand and putting two fingers to his forehead. He closed his eyes and concentrated, searching for Namekian energy signatures and caught a faint one along with several others and both he and Broly teleported off the planet.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27 – "An unavoidable battle takes place! Three battlegrounds set the stage."**

 **Back in Universe 7…**

Kelerot appeared and staggered a few steps afterwards, almost hitting the brick wall that led to the entrance of the tournament grounds. He held himself up leaning against it with his hand and his breathing was heavy and haggard. He closed his eyes for a moment to scan the area and then opened them again.

"Where did they all go? Dammit, I don't have time to find them. I need to heal first," he muttered to himself and tested his legs to see if he could walk steadily and was able to put some weight on them to take a few steps forward. The imprint of his hand on the brick wall carried an aftereffect of his gravity technique and the area collapsed within itself, drawing the wall within it before it stopped.

He spotted one of the monk officials exiting the entryway and he was busy dismantling the table and kiosk where competitors had signed in and he had his back to Kelerot as he approached him.

"Hey, you there," Kelerot said, walking up to him slowly. His eyes glazed over for a moment and he felt like he was ready to pass out and pain shot through his head all at once, more images of the multiverse flashing through his head. Stars, nebulae, clusters of colorful imagery and planets blurred through his mind; thousands of images moved one after the other so fast it was like a strobe light flashing in his eyes and he let out a moan of pain, squeezing his head.

"Goodness! Do you need help, sir?" the monk shouted and Kelerot grabbed him by his robes.

"The one who does the healing, I need to see him," Kelerot told him.

"One who does healing? We have doctors on site if you need medical assistance," the monk informed him and Kelerot glared up at him, causing the monk to stare back nervously.

"I don't need a doctor; I need the one who healed me before. He's, um, he's…" he shook his head, trying to get the flashing images out of his head. He desperately wanted to focus on remembering the one who healed him and he grabbed his head again, falling forward. The monk looked on in a state of confusion but he quickly panicked as he began floating off the ground.

"What? Hey! What's happening! Help! Someone help me, I can't get back down!" he cried out and several other monks rushed to grab his ankles but they were being pulled up with him as well, freaking out. The floating monk continued rising up towards the sky and the other monks lost their grip on his ankles and fell down, one of them crashing into the table. The floating monk's screams faded away as he continued floating upward and out of sight, the rest of them watching on in horror as they turned to Kelerot. He tried to grab another one but they all backed away out of instinct.

"I need a healer!" Kelerot screamed and the monks jumped from his voice. Kelerot glared at them and looked up to see the speck that was the monk he grabbed earlier and then he spotted the wall that had caved in on itself and his eyes widened in horror.

"No…this is bad…" he whispered. _If I don't heal up soon, my energy will go out of control and affect everything around here and I won't have the power to contain it!_

"Healer, I need a healer, the one…um…with pink skin…wears yellow gloves and a cape…"

It was all Kelerot could get out before he grabbed his head again and screamed. The monks stared on but one of them figured out what Kelerot was saying and he approached him.

"There's only one person I can think of that matches your description: Mr. Buu. He's Hercule's closest friend. He's still on this island if you want to see him."

Kelerot kept a hand to his head as he looked up at the monk. "Take me to him. Hurry!"

"But what about him? Will he come back down?" the monk asked him and Kelerot let out another cry of pain.

"If you don't heal me quick more of you will float away, or worse!" Kelerot yelled and they frantically ran off. They returned, accompanied by a man with an afro and a long handlebar mustache that contoured his upper jaw and a five o'clock shadow. He wore his signature brown gi with a white belt and white socks with black boots, though the hair on his head had been receding back to reveal more of his bald spot.

"Here he is, Hercule. I don't know what he's done, but he made one of our chief officials float off out of sight! And look at what he did to the wall over there!" he said and the former world champion looked puzzled.

"Huh, well, this is a dire situation. Hm, what's the best course of action for a former champion such as myself to take?" he asked, hand to his chin, rubbing his fingers through his scruff under his moustache. Kelerot reached out for him but the monk beside Hercule stretched his arms out in front of him.

"Please don't touch him, sir! We don't want the same thing to happen to the retired champion!" the monk shouted and Kelerot shot him a look.

"You, the friend of this Mr. Buu, take me to him. I need him to heal me," Kelerot told him and Hercule paused for a moment, looking dejected.

"I'm sorry, friend. Buu's in a deep sleep, he won't be able to help you."  
"Well wake him up then!"

"I can't, not when he's in hibernation. He won't wake up for another two months," Hercule told him somberly and Kelerot's eyes widened.

"What?! WHAT?!" He shouted and power filled him, causing the ground to shake. The gravity around him bled from his energy and it was causing everything to sink down. Trees were uprooted and crashed down, flattening themselves and the monks backed away. There were a couple of them behind Kelerot that were caught and they tried to stay standing but they fell down hard to the ground and gasped as they felt like they were crushed under a tremendous weight, splintering, and torn apart.

"W-w-wait a sec! There's another way I know of that can help you!" Hercule shouted, his arms out front of him and waving his hands in protest. Kelerot glared at him menacingly as a dark purple aura surrounded him. He was feeling the power of Destruction energy flow through him and he conjured up a hakai sphere in his hand and Hercule recognized it from his memories of meeting Lord Beerus for the first time and he began freaking out.

"S-s-s-senzu! You need the s-s-s-senzu beans!" he pleaded, dropping down to his knees and putting his hands together, head down. "P-please don't destroy us!"

The sphere disappeared from Kelerot's hands. "Don't worry, I won't destroy you. But please hurry and take me to these senzu beans."

Kelerot staggered forward a few steps and Hercule rummaged through his pockets, wondering if he had any but sighed, coming up empty handed.

"If you don't have any on you, take me to one who does," Kelerot told him as he approached him. Hercule quickly stood up and chuckled nervously, waving his hands in front of him.

"A lot of those fighters who participated in the tournament had senzu beans, I'm sure you can find one of them to give you one," he said nervously and Kelerot paused. Another flash of images attacked his mind and he sunk to his knees; hand pressed to his head.

"We can help you relax here until we retrieve them if you want," Hercule said but Kelerot ignored him.

"Where are they?" he muttered to himself and reached out with his hand, closing his eyes. He tried to remember where he had flown around earlier and didn't see any civilized areas other than small towns and farmland while he travelled and sighed. He then tried to remember the energy signature of Goku but he was nowhere near. What was strange was that Broly wasn't there either. The three Saiyans of this universe were all gone, away from this planet and Kelerot thought this was odd. He then looked to Goku's family and sensed his son elsewhere, fighting from the feel of his energy fluctuating as well as a couple others. It was the only power he could sense in that area and he frowned.

"It's strange, sensing only one power over there. What in the world is he fighting that has no energy? Nevermind, keep searching," he whispered to himself. Everyone else tried in vain to pull the monks out of the sudden gravity field and it took three monks to pull out one of them, or half of him at least from the gravity field but he was too shocked from the pain to respond. Hercule casually decided to turn around when a glare from Kelerot kept him in place with a squeak from his throat.

"You, tell me everything you know about Goku: his friends and his family. And you better not hide anything from me while you're at it," Kelerot informed him and Hercule groaned in his throat a bit. _Why me?_

Hercule did the best he could to relay what he knew: Videl, Gohan, Pan, and Goku along with his family and how he got to know them during a time when there was a lingering threat from Buu terrorizing the planet and all of its people. He recounted his exploits with Buu and how they became good friends, getting an impatient look from Kelerot to speed it up and he went on about where Goku was staying and also this place called Capsule Corporation where he and his friends would visit often.

"Though Goku doesn't visit very often, I do have a mansion not too far off from the compound where that Dr. Briefs fella has been really useful in-"

"That's fine, stop. At least your dull speech kept these images from coming in my head so I'll give you some credit for that. Where's this Capsule Corporation?"

"Down south that way in Metro West. In fact, I'm about to head there later today with Buu so he can sleep in his bed. You can hitch a ride in my personal aircraft if you want."

Kelerot stared at him and then back at the gravity field he had accidentally created and he closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. He concentrated as hard as he could and managed to neutralize the effects with an antigravity field and the monks breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank you, stranger! Wait, have we seen you before?" said one of them and Kelerot collapsed on his hands and knees.

"Yeah, you were the one who fixed the fighting stage the other day!" said one of them and they bowed at him.

"Thank you for your help, it sped up the tournament and kept us on schedule."

Kelerot stared up at him, then at the two monks lying on the ground, sighing.

"My apologies for this, I lost control of my power. If I don't get one of those senzu soon, there's no telling what else I could do to this planet. It's taking everything I have left in me to stay in control."

"Well I just happen to run the world famous Hercule Dojo myself, my friend! You'll be glad to pick up on some techniques to control that power of yours!" Hercule said with a chuckle and Kelerot ignored him, standing up. He walked over to the monks lying on the ground and bent down to touch them, netting a few gasps from the others.

"It's fine, my power shouldn't leak out for the moment," he said and examined the two of them, nodding.

"They're still alive, but barely. Get them help quickly. You, Afro."

"Afro?" Hercule said, pointing to himself and Kelerot gave him a nod.

"Get me to Capsule Corporation immediately, I'm sure there's someone in your family that has a senzu for me."

"Oh yeah, sure," Hercule said and took out a container from his pocket. "Thank goodness I have the personal aircraft right here in a capsule."

"We'll move Buu for you later, Mr. Hercule!" a monk informed him and Hercule crossed his arms.

"Good job everyone! Keep it up! Alright buddy, hop in," he said and activated a capsule that popped a large aircraft on the sidewalk with his face painted all on the side of it flashing a victory sign with his hand, the word "Hercule" written underneath it with diamond studs lined all around the hull of the aircraft and Kelerot gave it a look over, ignoring Hercule as he climbed on board.

"So, uh, you won't be, uh, causing this aircraft to float off into space or nothing, right buddy?" Hercule asked him.

"Kelerot."

"Huh?"

"My name is Kelerot."  
"Oh right. Well Mr. Kelerot, sir, you'll be glad to know this is a top of the line aircraft with the best speed on the planet, built by the fine folks at Capsule Corporation, the only richest people other than yours truly of course!" Hercule said, laughing. His confidence and boastful attitude had returned as Kelerot sat in the back, holding his head in his hands.

He regrettably had to endure more of Hercule's speeches about how he won tournaments in the past and how decorated he was as a world champion, garnering accolades and praise for many years until he decided to announce his retirement prior to this coming tournament.

When they flew down to Capsule Corporation, the staff noticed what kind of aircraft was making a landing and they pulled out all the stops to welcome the craft as it landed on the launch pad. When the craft came to a halt, Hercule and Kelerot stepped out and he put the craft back in its capsule.

"Mr. Hercule! It's a great honor to see you!" said one of the engineers. They all waved and crowded around him, begging for autographs and Kelerot glanced at them for a moment before he walked past them. The landing pad opened up to a huge patch of land that had a swimming pool, patios, and picnic areas underneath a thicket of trees, and a couple of large dinosaurs walking around the area. Kelerot looked amused by the sight of all of this and saw two familiar faces lounging by a tree by themselves. The boy with a mohawk's eyes widened as he saw Kelerot walk over to him and both him and the other one, what looked like his twin brother to Kelerot, stood up.

"Y-you're back," the kid with the mohawk said and the other one narrowed his eyes, looking at Kelerot suspiciously.

"Choi, you know this guy?" the other kid asked and Choi nodded.

"Yeah. So, you've come back to teach me, right?" Choi asked him and Kelerot gave him a puzzled look. Another flash of images struck his head and he fell to his knees, crying out in pain. Choi quickly rushed to him.

"Hey, what's with you all of a sudden?" he asked.

"Senzu…"

"Senzu?"

"Get me a senzu, quickly," Kelerot said and Choi looked to his brother.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Bok, go get one of those senzu beans from Pan, why don't ya?" he said and Bok hesitated a moment.

"Well? He's in pain, go get him a senzu bean!" Choi yelled and Bok sighed, running to the cafeteria area. Choi knelt down and put Kelerot's arm around his shoulders to help him up.

"I got ya. Let's get you over to this tree here," he said and led him to sit down against a tree.

"Geez, you look like you've been through every single bit of hell. What happened to you?" Choi asked, arms crossed.

"A fight."

"That must've been some fight. Did you win?"

"Yeah."

"That's awesome! I'd expect nothing less than the guy who wants to teach me. Put 'er there!" He extended his hand, hoping for Kelerot to give him a high five but Kelerot stared up at him.

"I'm not celebrating this, kid. There's something important I have to do and I need to be back at full strength to do it," he said and let out a cry of pain as another flash of images came to his head. Tears were streaming down his face as his head was throbbing.

"I'm losing control…" he muttered and destruction energy leaked out from behind him, destroying the tree he was leaning against and Choi backed away quickly.

"Whoa! What the hell did you do?!"

Kelerot couldn't say anything, except he continued screaming from the pain and his eyes opened with a flash and a capsule aircraft exploded, causing debris and strong winds to burst forth and Choi looked around him frantically. Kelerot reached up with his hand and an energy blade shot out from his hand like a sword and he almost cut Choi in the process.

"I can't contain them, it's all…it's all coming out at once! No!" he screamed and a pocket of gravity opened up in the air and it was drawing its surroundings in, while another pocket appeared around furniture that had been thrown around from the blowing winds and they were floating up in the air. Choi took this all in and he looked more excited than afraid as he watched all this unfold.

"This is so cool!" he muttered to himself and Bok quickly ran in with Pan, Bulla, and Uub and Bok reached Kelerot with a senzu bean in his hand.

"Here, take it!" he shouted and threw it at Kelerot. He caught it and looked down at it.

"You have to eat it!" Bok yelled again and Kelerot nodded, popping it in his mouth and eating it. After he swallowed it, his eyes widened and he stood up, closing his eyes again as he lifted his hands to concentrate and the gravity pockets were neutralized around him. When he lowered them again, he examined his hands and nodded. He studied the room and there was a lot of fear and panic on the faces of those within it, Hercule's especially. Kelerot walked over to Bok and smiled down at him.

"Thank you. You probably saved the planet by helping me just then," he said and ruffled Bok's hair, who winced at the touch. Choi ran up to him and his face was beaming.

"That was amazing! I didn't know you had all that power, master!" Choi said. "Master?" Bok whispered as he walked over to him.

"You're not an evil guy out to attack us, are you?" Bok asked and Kelerot frowned.

"I'm not evil, first of all. I'd appreciate it if you got that idea out of your head," Kelerot said.

"That sounds like something an evil guy would say," Pan whispered to Bulla and Bulla put a finger to her mouth with a look. Kelerot got in the full sight of what had happened and sighed.

"I'm terribly sorry for causing this. I'll fix this up immediately," he said and extended his hands, a warm white glow surrounding him and the mess began to reverse itself as items were floating back to their original position and the aircraft debris from the explosion glowed and changed, reforming itself back to its original state. When everything was as it was, Kelerot lowered his arms and smiled at the staff, then at the kids.

"Uh, thank you, sir!" an engineer told him and Kelerot nodded.

Pan and Bulla approached him cautiously and Bok walked over to stand beside them. Uub was behind Pan and they didn't get any closer. Kelerot stared around the area for a moment.

"Where did Goku and Broly run off to? I don't sense them anywhere."

"My dad went with Goku to some planet they called Namek, wherever that is," Choi said, arms crossed. He glanced behind him and noticed that the tree Kelerot had destroyed earlier didn't come back and he gulped a bit. The destruction energy he saw moments ago left him feeling with a sinking knot in his stomach and he glanced away from the spot where the tree had been to focus on Kelerot.

"I see. There's another one fighting somewhere, but is he fighting against himself? Is he doing some sort of special training?" he asked and Uub was the one to speak up this time.

"Oh, you must mean Gohan, Pan's father. He's fighting a couple of androids with his brother and Bulla's brother."

Pan gave him a look. "Uub, he doesn't need to know any of that. Look mister, whatever business you have with my grandpa you won't find it here," she said defiantly and Kelerot stared back at her calmly. Choi gave her a look.

"Don't speak to Master Kelerot like that! Pay him the proper respect!" Choi shouted and Kelerot raised an eyebrow. The other kids all stared at him and Pan had her hands on her hips, staring him down.

"Respect?! You're the last person I can think of that knows anything about what respect is," she stated and Choi cracked his knuckles.

"Want a rematch, girlie? I'll be glad to give you one if you're so itching for a fight. Thanks for that senzu bean earlier by the way."

Pan was reluctant to give Choi a senzu bean after they all gathered together at Capsule Corporation but Uub insisted that Choi be given one as well due to his merciful nature. Pan had given Bulla one earlier when she first arrived and paused for a while before shoving the bean at Choi and walking away.

Kelerot stared down at Choi and sighed. "I suppose I can stay and teach you your first lesson since its obvious you forgot the one I left you with yesterday."

"What lesson? You didn't give me one, you just said you'd teach me, Master."

"Provided that you'd make amends with your opponent and apologize for your treatment of them," Kelerot said with a stern voice and Choi crossed his arms, looking away. Pan gave him an amused grin and she chuckled a bit. Seeing Choi get chewed out like this was more entertaining than she thought it was but Kelerot glanced over at her and cleared his throat.

"Come here," he said. His voice was calm and steady now, vastly different than what everyone had heard earlier and he stared down at the two with his arms crossed.

"It's clear there's a lot of animosity between the two of you. If you want to grow as a warrior, you must acknowledge your opponent's strengths and set aside any misgivings you have about them. Same goes for you, girl. You both allow your emotions to guide your fighting. While they do provide strength, they can also be a detriment. Don't see the person in front of you as your enemy, see them as an equal in battle and pay the proper respect towards their strength."

Pan glared at Choi, who was looking away and she stared up at Kelerot.

"That's easy for you to say, mister. I'm willing to give this brat some respect, right after I punch his face in. But what makes you think he'll return it in kind?"

"I never said this would be easy. These things take time and you're still quite young. Children have a lot of ambition and desire, but they lack the proper control of their emotions to focus clearly. Some have a better talent to control themselves, while others," he said while glancing at Choi specifically, "may take considerably longer."

"Sounds boring. You gonna teach me those cool things you did earlier? What about that thing you did with the tree? Think of the kind of power I'd have in a battle if I knew I could just delete my opponent that quickly. That'd make them sweat a lot in fear," Choi said with a snicker and Kelerot sighed, walking away.

"Hey, where're you going?" Choi called out and Kelerot stopped, staring ahead.

"You're not ready."

"Like hell I'm not ready! I'm ready to train now! C'mon Master, teach me something good!" Choi said, bouncing up and down in a fighting pose, punching the air rapidly. Kelerot spun around and leered over him with a narrowed expression.

" _You're not ready_."

"You said that already. C'mon, what's my first lesson?"

Kelerot paused, then said: "You're not ready."

He walked past him and looked up. He noticed that the sky looked artificial in this large area and there was a projection against a glass dome far above them. Choi clenched his fists and glared at Kelerot.

"Why do you keep saying I'm not ready?! Hey! I'm talking to you!"

Kelerot didn't acknowledge him and everyone else was staring at him. Pan sighed and she glanced back at Bulla and Uub, nodding.

"Ugh, now I regret ever getting angry at this brat. This is pathetic to watch," she said and Bulla chuckled a bit.

"I don't blame you for telling him off though. I'm gonna give mom and grandpa a hand, you and Uub can join me if you want."

"Actually I'm gonna go visit Arugula and Cheelai," Pan said and Uub nodded.

"Same. I hope your dad's okay. I'm a bit worried about Trunks and Goten though, I can't sense their energy."

"You don't think they lost?" Bulla asked and Uub shook his head.

"No, they're not dead if you think that's what happened but they probably got knocked out. I can go get them if you need me to," he said and Pan pursed her lips.

"If you're going, please be careful," she said and Uub nodded.

"Yeah. But I'm only going to bring Trunks and Goten back here. I want to be sure we're here to keep the others safe for now in case we have more of those infected people roaming around."

"How do you know there are others?" Pan asked.

"A hunch."

"That's not a lot to go on if you ask me," Pan sighed and the three walked back inside the building.

Bok stared at Choi with his arms crossed. "Choi, stop embarrassing yourself more than you already have."

"No I'm not! I want to know why Master Kelerot doesn't think I'm ready!" Choi cried out and he powered up to his Super Saiyan state, not caring that his energy was causing winds to blow out everywhere and he charged right at Kelerot with a fist but when he hit him, it was like hitting a wall. Kelerot didn't budge or flinch once from the impact, instead he continued looking around him and he stopped, glancing behind him. "Hm? You're still here?"

"What did you say?!" Choi screamed and he threw a few more punches that hit Kelerot but did absolutely nothing to him and he hopped back, glaring furiously at him.

"Tell me I'm ready! Acknowledge my strength, dammit!" he screamed and Kelerot kept looking around.

"Maybe I should get something to eat before I head back out," he muttered to himself and walked in the direction Pan and the others left earlier and Choi clenched his fists tightly.

"LOOK AT ME!" he screamed but Kelerot waved his hand casually calling back out to him: "You're not ready!"

Bok stood in front of Choi and stared at him for a moment.

"You're lucky dad's not here to scold you. Even he would've been embarrassed to see you like this," he said and walked away. Choi powered back down to his base form and stared at everyone, who had watched him the whole time.

"What the hell do you want?!" he said and scoffed at everyone before running to Bok.

Outside the compound, Piccolo watched Tien get loaded onto a capsule casket and Bulma closed the lid, sighing as she kept kneeling beside it.

"Chaozu's going to be horrified once he finds out what happened," she said somberly and Piccolo glanced behind him.

"He won't know what happened. My hunch is that he's also been infected by whatever took hold of Tien and I. He's out there infecting others as we speak, I'm certain of it."

Bulma gasped. "Then there's no telling how many people he's been in contact with!"

"Precisely. Even if we beat these androids, we still need to deal with this plague of Tsufurians that are taking over the people of this planet. There's no guarantee I won't be re-infected in the near future if I'm not careful and Goku's not here to cleanse them with the Spirit Bomb."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Bulma asked.

"Go and find the Dragonballs and bring them back here. There's a possibility that this might not be beyond Shenron's power."

Bulma remembered that the five Dragonballs they collected earlier had fallen into the ocean and she felt in her coat pocket for her Dragon radar which she pulled out and activated. Five blips appeared around one area and she nodded.

"They're still there in the ocean when they fell. I can go get them now," she said and Piccolo held her at bay with a hand.

"It's still too dangerous. Gohan's engaged in a heated battle with those androids, and I wouldn't want you caught in the crossfire. I'm going to lend him a hand. I owe him that much after what Goku did and I've been meaning to have a piece of those two for some time now."

Clenching his fists, he took to the air and flew out of sight, Bulma shielding her face from the winds that blew after his launch. She pressed a button on the side of the capsule casket and it disappeared into a capsule which she grabbed in the air and stared down at it.

"Please be okay, Goku. Make sure you guys get your wish from the Namekian Dragon to bring Tien back," she said, clutching the capsule in her hands in a prayer-like fashion.

 **Grim news…**

Whis's staff blinked as he was sipping a cup of tea with Beerus and Cae, smiling at how delicious it tasted and he glanced over at it. Grabbing it, he cocked an eyebrow when Marcarita's face appeared on the projection.

"You have news, I take it?" he asked and noticed that her expression had a hint of sadness to it.

"I do, brother," she said and Cae glanced over his cup and noticed her facial features bore a heavy burden, something he hadn't seen her express before. He nodded over at Barbon who was seated on a chair with a pipe in his hand and a book on the other, flipping a page with his thumb. He set his pipe down and stood up, approaching the three. Vegeta walked in, stretching his arm, rotating it and he paused when he saw the mood of the room and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms to wait for whatever this might be. Whis noticed him out of the corner of his eye and he nodded at Marcarita.

"We're all ears, sister. Go ahead," he told her and she breathed a sigh.

"I'll get straight to the point: Jiren has been destroyed."

Beerus paused and Vegeta's face looked on in shock. _What?!_

Barbon's eyes widened as he let the book fall from his hands and his hand grabbed his pipe, crushing it in his hand, not caring that the tobacco was falling through his fingers and he glared at the projection.

"That's absurd! Surely you must be joking, Marcarita!"

"I'm sorry, Lord Barbon. Jiren no longer exists, destroyed by Kelerot's Hakai technique."

Beerus's face darkened as he stood up to stare at the projection. But it was Barbon who was the first to speak up before he could say anything and he clutched the crystal pendant around his neck. Gritting his teeth, he snatched it off of him, breaking the chain and he crushing the crystal in his hand.

"Lord Barbon, what are you doing?!" Cae yelled and Barbon stared down at the broken shards.

"I've sat around long enough. I will no longer run like a coward. I cannot allow this perversion of the gods to continue! I will end this mortal's life once and for all!"

"You will do no such thing, Barbon," Beerus quipped and Barbon glared down at him. Beerus gave him a look that even had him on edge and he stared up at him with his hands behind his back.

"Go back to your universe and fix the damage that's been done. I'll handle this myself."

Barbon shot him a protesting look. "I insist that I be the one to end this mortal's life, Lord Beerus. He is from our universe and it should fall on my hands to destroy him for what he's done to countless planets and for the murder of the Pride Troopers!"

"And succumb to the same obsessive behavior as Kelerot? You're a Destroyer, Barbon, not a Pride Trooper. We do not exact revenge, nor hold a grudge. We destroy planets and nothing else, ensuring that we correct mistakes that should never have been made in the first place. Delving the two of you was one thing, but delving mortals of my universe puts him under my jurisdiction now and I'll see to it that he stops running around the multiverse playing a role he was never meant to have."

Barbon paused for a moment, glancing over at Cae, who reluctantly removed the pendant around his neck and let it fall to the floor.

"Kelerot will surely know where we are now," he said as the crystal hit the floor.

"The better to lure him here," Vegeta said and they both looked at him.

"He's looking for you, correct? Then lure him here so Lord Beerus can take him out," he told them and Barbon looked down at Cae.

"He may have been damaged severely when he fought Jiren, he should be an easy target now," Barbon said and Whis hummed.

"I doubt that. See for yourself," he said and showed them the events that happened at Capsule Corporation and the son of Broly handing Kelerot a senzu bean. Beerus growled, clenching a fist.

"Those damn beans again! I swear, next time I'm down there I'm destroying all of them!" he yelled and Vegeta gulped, sweating a bit. He didn't like the sound of that and couldn't imagine a world without senzu beans to heal injuries if it ever became necessary. He wanted to say something but didn't want to chance it knowing Beerus's temper is at a dangerous level.

"He's at full strength again," Barbon said, sounding a bit nervous now.

"And since he destroyed Jiren, that could mean he might be more powerful than you are now, my Lord," Cae said and Vegeta stared at the two.

"It should be obvious considering he's a Saiyan like me," he said, getting everyone's attention.

"He was never meant to have this kind of power," Barbon said, crossing his arms. He gestured towards the projection with disgust. "How did he become so strong in all those years he was in prison?"

"By exposing a known trait in our bloodline," Vegeta informed him. He approached them while explaining the situation.

"A Saiyan's power grows after they recover from near fatal injuries sustained in battle. Combined with rigorous weight training to build our physical strength, the power of a Saiyan warrior has limitless potential for growth. You've seen it countless times with Kakarot and myself over the years.

"But there is a loophole to this ability that some of us can exploit. If we lower our power intentionally and allow our opponent to deal a near-fatal blow, we experience the same growth in power if we're healed back to full strength in time. That bastard probably did it to himself so many times while he was in that prison that he would've gained incredible power over and over again. He must've realized that he became so powerful that no other prisoner would've been a match for him so he bent the rules in his favor by allowing them to cripple him enough to gain the boost in power when he recovered. By doing this to himself for so long means there's no way of knowing how powerful he really is."

"I refuse to accept that some loathsome _Gardenian_ is stronger than the Gods and I'd appreciate it if you got that idea out of your head for your sake, Vegeta," Beerus's tone was cold and direct and Vegeta gulped, still feeling a bit apprehensive whenever he's near Beerus during off-training time.

"Well, since you have the best knowledge of your species, Vegeta, I suggest you be the one to fight Kelerot instead of Lord Beerus," Whis mentioned, which got a look from Beerus.

"Don't be absurd, Whis, I'm not having Vegeta fight anyone while he's here. He can spectate for all I care. You two, heighten your power so you can draw him here, I want to get this over with as quickly as possible."

"Yes, Lord Beerus," Barbon said, frowning. He still felt the urge to handle this with his own two hands but couldn't bring himself to argue with Beerus when he's dead set on an objective. He and Cae both closed their eyes and focused their power to heighten it enough and everyone waited now for Kelerot to respond.

 **An offer of training…**

Uub took a few deep breaths before he left the compound. He wanted to get a good enough sense of Gohan's energy to lock on before he teleported to their location. Pan walked with him while Bulla went the other direction to join her grandfather just as Bulma was on her way back from putting Tien's body in a capsule. She was holding Uub's hand tightly now, the two walking like a couple down the hall and they were getting looks from the staff, all smiling politely at them and Pan blushed a bit. She couldn't care less that they were drawing attention to themselves since she felt comfortable holding his hand. A warm tingly sensation flowed through her as she felt her heart flutter a bit, smiling and closing her eyes. Uub didn't mind that his hand was holding Pan's, he rather enjoyed the feeling of holding hands with her like an added boost of security. It reminded him of the times he held his brothers' hands while he walked with them to fetch water from the river to bring back to their house for their mother to use in washing and cooking. What he was feeling and what Pan was feeling were slightly different, and Uub wasn't aware just how strong those feelings were when it came to Pan but his mind was trying to focus more on where he needed to be.

When the two stepped outside, Pan looked up at him and they stared at each other for a few seconds.  
"So,"

"So," Pan echoed him and she grabbed his other hand in hers. She had to lift her feet up a bit to reach Uub and she was about to kiss him.

"I shouldn't be too long," he said, cutting her off and she quickly went back down before she got any closer, her cheeks red with embarrassment.

"Right, you've got an important thing to take care of," she said, holding her arm while looking away. Uub put two fingers to his forehead and she wanted to say something else but she was getting too nervous now.

"Uub, I-"

"Huh?"

"I, I'll see you soon. I hope Uncle Goten and Trunks are okay," she told him and he nodded.

"I'll make sure they won't die on us," he said and disappeared in front of her. She sighed, putting her face in her hands and she let out an even bigger sigh, groaning.

In the laboratory, Bulla had a lab coat on and she was handing Bulma and Dr. Briefs tools that they requested and they were hard at work fixing up the engine to get it ready for testing again and Bulla occasionally peeked under the sheet where Android 16 was lying under and she glanced at him nervously.

"Can I re-activate him now?" she asked and Bulma was working on screwing in a bolt with a torque wrench.

"Not for another thirty minutes, he's at ninety-eight percent. You can wait another two percent, can't you?" she said, tightening the bolt and she rolled back out from underneath, wiping her hands.

"I guess so. But I honestly want to see Android 16's new body, he's gotta look so cool now with big muscles and a huge hulking body," she said and Bulma smirked a bit.

"I gave him his old chassis but with a lot of upgrades and modifications to make him far more durable than he was before, thanks to the technological developments we've made over the years. And once we've had a successful test run of the infinite engine, we can build one to install it in his core and he'll run on never-ending stamina just like 17 and 18."

"That's gonna be so cool!" Bulla cried out and lifted the sheet to expose Android 16's head and she smiled, stroking his head and red mohawk.

"I can't wait to train with this new body of yours, 16. You're gonna be incredible."

A knock came on the door and Bulla glanced over to see Bok and Choi come in. She grinned when she saw Bok but it faded immediately after she saw Choi beside him. Choi cocked an eyebrow when he saw 16's body on the table.

"The hell is this thing?" he asked and Bulla put the sheet back over him, giving Choi a look.

"That's none of your business," she said, crossing her arms. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and she leaned against the table with her hand, watching him roam around the laboratory.

"Don't touch anything in here," she told him and Choi waved her off carelessly. Bok sighed at his brother and lifted the sheet to get in a good look at android 16.

"You guys built this?" he asked and Bulla smiled.

"Yeah, mom and I worked hard on bringing him back. He got smashed pretty badly years ago and I wanted to rebuild him to give him another chance at enjoying life and be a good sparring partner for me so I can train hard. He helped me a lot to prepare for the tournament," she said.

"Hah, fat lot of good that did ya if ya lost in the first round against a weakling like Pan," Choi piped in and Bulla glared at him.

"Choi, shut up," Bok said, staring at him and Choi gave him a look before picking up a small device from a shelf, looking at it with a funny look on his face. Bulla clenched her fists and wanted to punch him but Bok gently put his hand down on hers to get her attention and they both looked down, not realizing what had just happened and Bok retreated his hand just as quickly, Bulla pulling her hand away and clearing her throat.

"Maybe when he's activated, I can spar with him for a bit?" Bok asked her and Bulla glanced at him, blushing a bit.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure, I can program some two-on-one sparring sessions with him in the gravity room," she said and Choi tossed the device over his shoulder, cracking his knuckles.

"What a waste of time, training with robots. That junk heap probably wouldn't last two minutes with Bok if he pushed himself hard enough," he said and Bulla glared at him. He looked a bit unsettled when she started smiling and he stared back at her.

"You think you're such a big shot now that you're all Super Saiyan. Why don't you put your money where your mouth is finally and fight me one on one in the gravity room? I'll gladly knock you down a few pegs and show you that being a Super Saiyan ain't all it's cracked up to be."

"Oh? This oughta be good. Don't go and disappoint me like your brother did and stand slack jawed like a moron."

Bulla immediately transformed into her Super Saiyan form, staring fiercely at Choi, who returned the stare with his own transformed state and Bulma glared at the two of them.

"Hey you two, not in the laboratory! Take it outside!" she shouted and Bulla clenched her fists. She threw her lab coat off of her and stretched her arms, putting on her fighting gloves. She powered back down to her base form and walked out of the room with Bok following behind her. Choi leered down at Android 16's body with a grin on his face and left the room, powering down to his base form as well.

When they entered the gravity room, Bulla walked over to the console and adjusted the number on the display but didn't show what it was to Choi. She had been used to gravity training constantly during the months leading up to the tournament and she knew that this would give her an advantage since Choi had never trained like this before. She grinned when the doors slid shut behind her and frowned when she saw Bok in the same room as well.

"Brace yourself, Bok, it's gonna get pretty intense in a few seconds," she said and pressed the button to switch on the gravity machine. The number climbed up to 300 times normal gravity and the room vibrated as Bok felt himself almost fall completely to the floor; eyes wide.

"H-hey! What gives?!" Choi yelled and he powered up to Super Saiyan again to steady himself but even this was all he could do to keep himself from falling forward and he stared in shock at Bulla as she moved freely around the room in her Super Saiyan form.

"Hey, this isn't fair! Stop this and fight me fairly, dammit!" Choi yelled and Bulla brought the number up to 350 times, staring at Choi as she was doing it. She heightened her power to her Super Saiyan 2 form and she stared at Choi, arms crossed as Bok was sinking further down, almost hitting the floor and Choi was feeling the pull himself, struggling to stay on his feet.

"This isn't funny anymore, stop this machine!" Choi cried out and Bulla stared at him.

"Not until you apologize for what you've done to Pan and to my brother! I want to hear it from you and I want you to mean it, or this stays on. And each minute that goes by that I don't hear it out of your mouth the gravity goes up another ten times and believe me when I say this that I can go as high as five hundred before it gets too much for me. Wanna take that risk?"

Choi glared at her angrily. "Turn this thing off!"

"Choi, just do what she says and apologize!" Bok yelled and he was on his hands and knees now, trying desperately to hold himself up.

"I ain't apologizing to some spoiled rich girl!"

"Three sixty," Bulla said, turning the dial up. Choi's eyes widened even more as he sunk to one knee. He powered up even more to stand back up and he tried to walk over to her but she started pacing around the room, hands behind her back as she glanced around playfully, not looking at him.

"I can do this all day, you know," she said to no one in particular but made herself loud enough for the two to hear her and Choi stomped closer to the gravity machine.

"Turn this off, I swear to god," Choi growled and Bulla walked back to the machine, casually pushing a button.

"Three seventy five," she said, adjusting the number by fifteen rather than ten and Choi sank to a squatting position immediately. He screamed and clenched his fists tightly as Bok was now completely on the floor.

"Turn it off or I'll-!"

"Or you'll what?"

Choi's power grew even more as his eyes started fading away and his teeth gritted heavily and Bulla pushed the button on the console once more.

"Four hundred."  
Choi screamed in intense fury and his muscles bulged out slightly, his hair changing color to a light lime green and Bulla's face started to look on in concern.

"Bulla, please, it's no use getting him to apologize! He's losing control of himself like he did against Pan and he'll destroy this whole place if you keep this up!"

She stared back between Bok and Choi and her hand began to shake as she hovered it over the button to make the machine go up even higher and she started feeling remorseful the more Bok pleaded with her as he stared up at her, feeling the pressure of the gravity crush him on the floor. Choi stomped ever closer to her and she let out a huge sigh of frustration, slamming her fist down on the button to shut it down and the gravity in the room faded back to normal. She stayed in her Super Saiyan 2 form as Choi was still in mid-berserker form and Bok struggled to get to his hands and knees, breathing heavily. Choi shook his head, struggling to control himself and he powered out of his state to his base form, staggering back and falling on his rear. Bulla powered down to her base form as well and she rushed to help Bok back to his feet with a huge look of panic on her face.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to put you through that!" she said, her voice shaking a bit and Bok gave her a weak smile.

"It's okay, Bulla. You tried, at least."

She held him up as she stared down at Choi, who blinked and looked around the room. When he saw Bulla and Bok, he stood back up on his feet and glared at her.

"You better watch your back from now on, girl," he said with a cold and eerie tone to his voice and stormed out of the room. Bulla sighed and looked over at Bok.

"He doesn't mean that, does he?" she asked and Bok shook his head.

"Let him be alone for now," he said and Bulla helped him out of the room. He stopped and eased Bulla's arm off his shoulders, feeling able to walk again.

"I'll be fine," he said and Bulla wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't want to see you in that much pain," she said, fighting back tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Hey, don't worry about me. I'll be fine, I mean it. I'm a lot tougher than you realize." he said with a chuckle and Bulla pulled away, wiping her eyes. She laughed softly and nodded.

"Right. How about we go get something to eat? That was a lot to take in," she said and Bok smiled.

"I'm impressed you can handle four hundred times gravity. I was scared you might actually crank it all the way up to five hundred like you said," he said and Bulla laughed nervously.

"I was kinda bluffing," she said and Bok's eyes widened. "To tell you the truth, I never had it that high up before and Super Saiyan 2 was all I could manage to move around, otherwise I'd be on the floor like you and be unable to reach the controls to shut the machine off."

Bok was left stunned by what he had heard and Bulla chuckled a bit.

"But hey, you held on as long as you could at that level so you should be proud of your strength. Us Saiyans gotta have our pride after all, right?"

Bok and Bulla went to the cafeteria where they noticed that Kelerot was by himself at a table with platefuls of food but decided to ignore him, instead grabbing a table for themselves to eat.

Pan walked back inside the building and was bumped aside by Choi as he stormed out.

"Hey!" she shouted, staring at him but he didn't acknowledge her and she sighed in frustration.

"Damn brat."

She shook her head and walked around the compound, wondering where Bulla had walked off to. She checked in with the laboratory and Bulma told her they went to the gravity room, but since she saw Choi walk out of the building as fast as he did, she figured they weren't there anymore and deduced that they might be sitting down for food and she entered the cafeteria. She saw Bulla and Bok together at the table, sharing their food and Bok was making Bulla laugh with a few stories from back home about Choi and Pan had a smile on her face. She approached the two and pulled up a chair.

"May I?" she said and Bulla nodded. Pan sat down at Bok handed a plate over to her.

"You're probably starving at this point," he said and Pan's stomach growled loudly, causing her to blush.

"You have no idea," she said, her mouth salivating at the sight of the platter in front of her and she spent the next while not saying anything, eating away. When the three finished, Pan sighed happily and leaned on the table after the staff cleared it up for them and she stared at the two with a grin on her face.

"What's with that look, Pan?" Bulla asked and Pan shook her head.

"Oh nothing."

"Okay. So Uub went to get my brother and Goten?" she asked and Pan nodded.

"Yeah, he should be back soon, I hope," Pan sighed, leaning on her hand and tapping the table with the other.

"This Freeza's gotta be some scary monster if he's got your grandfather this much on edge," Bok stated and Pan frowned.

"Grandpa's strong, the strongest guy in existence. This Freeza guy won't know what hit him," Pan said, having never experienced the kind of power that Freeza possessed.

"Papa should've been aware of this as well. I know he'd want to have a go at that Freeza jerk too," Bulla said, arms crossed and Pan nodded.

"But hey, if your dad's as strong as you say he is, I'm sure he and grandpa will handle it over there," Pan told Bok and he nodded.

"My mom doesn't like talking much about dad's fight with your dad and grandfather, but she said she saw them fight separately, then saw this other guy appear to fight him. Uncle Lemo believed that they merged together into one person to fight dad and they almost won. If they had, Choi, Arugula, and I wouldn't have been born."

Bulla and Pan paused. "Grandpa and Vegeta did the fusion pose?"

"If that's what they did, I guess. You'd have to ask mom about that, or Uncle Lemo."

"Papa never talked about fusing with Kakarot before. I knew my brother and Goten were able to do it but this is something I never knew my papa did. He's too proud to admit working together with anyone to defeat an opponent."

"There's a lot about him and grandpa that we don't know about," Pan said. "He often keeps a lot of stuff from me and Uub as well and I'd love to know as much as I can about all the cool fights he's had in the past. But if Uncle Goten and Trunks can do that fusion, and Grandpa and Vegeta did it, wouldn't it be awesome if you and I could do that as well, Bulla?"

Bulla gave her a devious grin. "You read my mind, Pan."

Bok glanced at them, confused. "I still don't know what the heck's going on here."

"When Uub brings Trunks and Goten back here, we'll get them to teach us how to do the fusion pose like they do. I want a powerful warrior with all our awesome powers combined to kick butt, staring with those stupid androids that have been a nuisance to us!" Bulla shouted and Pan fist bumped her friend, nodding in agreement.

"What should we call ourselves when we do fuse? How about Palla?"

"Nah, that sounds too weird. What about BuPan?" Bulla said and Pan shook her head. "That still sounds off."

"We got time to think of a name," Bulla said and Bok felt left out of the conversation, looking at the two as they were gleefully immersed in their dialogue.

"Um, I'm gonna go look for Choi," he said but they were too busy throwing names around to notice him now and he casually stood up and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Panalla."

"Ban."

"Pun-nal."

"Banala."

"Banana."

The two laughed loudly after that name and Bulla snapped her fingers.

"Wait, I got it! How about Bulpan?"

"Oooh, I like that one, it rolls off the tongue so easily!"

"Alright, Bulpan it is. I can't wait to see how strong we fight as Bulpan after we fuse," Bulla said and Pan glanced around.

"Hey, wasn't Bok here a moment ago?"

"Huh? When did he leave?" Bulla asked and groaned at herself, feeling bad for having ignored him again. "Ugh, I'm a horrible friend."

"Bulla, don't say that. You're an amazing friend."

"But I stopped paying attention to Bok again, twice in one day. What does that say about me?"

"Not a thing because you're thinking too much into it. He's probably gone to look for the brat. We should wait outside for Uub," Pan said and the two nodded, getting off their chairs to leave the cafeteria.

Kelerot finished his meal and stared at the table the kids were eating at and crossed his arms, sighing.

"That boy's wasting his potential losing himself in such an attitude. If he doesn't get a hold of himself soon he'll cause serious harm, more so to himself than to anyone else. I hope you get your act together soon, kid."

It was then that he picked up a new energy signature and his eyes widened. He stood up and glanced up at the ceiling for a moment and then a smile appeared on his face.

"Toppo. Figured you'd pop up again, and in this universe no less."

Kelerot closed his eyes, filtering the images that were now coming in more clearly and he saw the image of Lord Beerus's world, an upside-down purple pyramid with a large tree that had a whole building built within it. He nodded and opened his eyes.

"Kai-kai," he said and teleported away.

 **Reunion on Namek…**

Bonyu and Salza placed the last two Dragonballs along with the five Freeza and Cooler had obtained earlier and set them up on a dirt patch a few hundred meters away from their ship. Cooler had Esca above the ground and he tossed him in front of the Dragonballs like a piece of discarded clothing.

"Summon it," he barked, staring down at the Grand Elder. His breathing was frantic to the point of hyperventilating and Freeza had his hands on his hips, sighing.

"Dear oh dear, you've gone and traumatized the poor kid, brother. Allow me," he said and walked over to him. Esca's face grew even more frightened as Freeza leered over him and pointed a finger to his face. A small speck of energy began forming from the tip of it and Freeza glared down menacingly with a smile on his face.

"You're making my brother impatient and very grumpy, Mr. Grand Elder. I highly suggest you get to summoning the Dragon."

"My Lord, weren't we to wait for Goku's arrival?" Berryblue chimed in and Freeza snickered.

"Goku does enjoy making people wait, doesn't he? However, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and wait five more minutes. If he doesn't show up, we'll just have my wish granted and be done with this planet."

He lowered his hand and picked up Esca with his hands, shoving him forward to face the Dragonballs.

"You heard my brother. Summon it."

Esca paused, calming himself down as best he could. Taking a deep breath, he started speaking in the Namekian tongue: "Come forth great Porunga and grant our wishes!"

Esca managed to keep his voice steady enough to say the words to summon Porunga and the seven Dragonballs began to glow and shimmer. Freeza smirked and turned to Salza.

"You'll gladly convey my wish for me, won't you? Tell him I wish for a ship with the speed to travel across the multiverse. Then kill this brat." Freeza asked him, glancing over at Esca, who stared at him in shock and Salza saluted him, hand to his breastplate. The skies of Namek turned pitch black as Freeza turned back around to watch the Dragonballs glow completely and a silhouette projected itself from them, a huge pillar of light that shot out from them all, the skies shooting lightning and thunder all around. The pillar of light formed itself into the shape of Porunga, a colossal dragon with a ripped physique and black horns protruding from its arms, shoulders, and head.

THOU WHO HAST GATHERED THE DRAGONBALLS. SPEAK NOW AND SAY YOUR WISHES. I SHALL GRANT THEE ANY THREE WISHES THAT ART SO WITHIN MY POWER.

"Ho? Three wishes? Then I might actually get my other wish to be five centimeters taller granted after all," Freeza said with a chuckle, smiling at Salza. He stared up at Porunga with a delightful air of awe and wonder.

"What a remarkable sight to finally see the Namekian dragon up close now," Freeza said and several scouters blipped on from a few of the crew behind him.

"hm?"

The sound drew their attention and Freeza paused when he saw Goku appear with someone else beside him and he grinned sadistically when he recognized the one beside him.

"Well well, you actually did show up after all, Son Goku!" he said, taking a couple of steps closer to him. Goku and Broly glanced up at Porunga, shielding their eyes from the glow of the Dragonballs.

"Hooo boy, I never get tired of seeing how amazin' that Namekian dragon looks," he said, then glanced at Freeza first, then at Cooler with a frown.

"So you're Freeza's brother?" he said.

"The infamous Son Goku, bane to the existence of our clan. How I've longed to lay my eyes on you," Cooler said, grinning down at him. He stood a head taller than Goku, but was at eye level with Broly, and the two brothers were staring at him now.

"And you've brought that loathsome gorilla with you! I was expecting Vegeta to show up with you since you two monkeys always loved travelling in pairs," Freeza said and Broly glared at him.

"The exiled Saiyan. Interesting. Killing him with my own two hands will be worth the trip to this place. Salza, make with the wishes while the others keep these monkeys occupied, will you?"

"It will be my pleasure, Lord Cooler," Salza said, bowing at him, but they gave each other a glimmer from their eye that indicated some non-verbal communication between them and Salza smirked.

DOST THOU HAVE A WISH TO GRANT?

Porunga showed a subtle hint of impatience when he spoke and Salza smiled as he looked up at him.

"I do, dragon! Grant Lord Cooler Eternal Life! Give him an undying body!" Salza shouted and Esca gasped.

"W-wait, th-that wasn't the wish!" he shouted and Freeza glared at Salza, then at the Dragon. In an instant, he fired a huge blast at the base of the Dragon and destroyed the Dragonballs. Porunga belted out a roar of pain before he could do anything and he dissolved into a cloud of green smoke. The skies stopped covering the planet in darkness and went back to its normal green hue. Esca looked on in horror and fresh tears streamed down his face. Freeza moved to grab Salza by the neck and Cooler went to stop him but Freeza pointed a finger at him, stopping him in place with a glow of purple energy surrounding the tip. Goku and Broly stared on in horror as well, unable to say anything and Freeza lifted Salza off his feet by his neck.

"I should've known you'd pull a deceitful stunt like this. I don't know what it was you were hoping for, probably something as stupid as eternal life; but trying to steal a wish from me was a foolish mistake!"

Salza's eyes widened and Freeza unleashed a blast of energy from his hand that vaporized him, Salza barely able to let out a scream before he was gone.

"Freeza! How could you?!" Goku yelled and Freeza glanced at his brother.

"If I can't have a wish granted from the Dragon, no one can."

"Why you," Goku said, teeth clenched along with his fists and Broly's anger began rising as well.

"Why Broly! What's with all this pent up anger I'm sensing? Wouldn't it be just amusing if you had someone you could take your frustrations out on!" Freeza said with an amusing grin on his face and Goku's power was rising inside him.

"Tell me why you created two androids and sent them to Earth! Why couldn't you do the dirty deed yourself if you wanted so badly to get back at me?"

Freeza's eyes widened a bit. "Why I'm shocked you'd accuse me of something so nefarious! As if I would stoop to such a level. You of all people should know this about me by now."

"Allow me to take the credit for those beautiful creations of mine," Cooler said, bowing with a hand to his chest. "While I've been denied a wish for myself no thanks to my brother here, I am eager to see you both sent to oblivion by my hand."

Broly's fists were shaking now as well as his whole body the more he stared at Freeza. That face that smiled back at him and Goku made his ire skyrocket and his eyes began shifting from black to yellow.

"I want…I want to…I want to fight them…"

"Yeah, so do I," Goku said, staring at Freeza.

Broly immediately let out a shout and made a bee-line for Freeza. The shorter ice-demon simply stood there and waited for Broly to make the first move but noticed Cooler grabbed the Saiyan's wrist before he could reach him. Cooler smirked down and Broly glared at him, jerking his arm away and he unloaded on him with a punch that Cooler blocked, pushing him to the air. Broly began to pursue him while the crew members scrambled and ran back to the ship as Berryblue walked over to Esca with Bonyu.

"What should we do with the Namekian, my Lady?" Bonyu asked, pointing her open hand down at him as she prepared an energy attack to kill him. She had no emotional attachment to the rest of Cooler's armored squadron and had no reaction to what had transpired earlier. Seeing Salza wiped away before Freeza's power did nothing for her and she waited for the signal from Berryblue to do away with this Namekian. Berryblue smiled down at him.

"Let him stew on his pain, I think he's suffered enough as it is," she said and floated back to the ship. Bonyu gave Esca one last look before she followed her back as well and Esca saw the broken shards of the stones that were once the Dragonballs and buried his face in the ground, sobbing.

Goku calmly walked over to Freeza with a grin on his face.

"I was honestly not expecting for us to fight like this again. Just like old times, huh?"

"Of course, I wouldn't want it any other way," Freeza said, posing with his hands out in front of him, smiling deviously at him, but the smile quickly faded as he looked more serious now. "But do you honestly believe the outcome will be the same as before? There's no one precious to you for me to kill, nor anyone significant enough to defend, and no Dragonballs here to save you. All that is left is your inevitable fate at my hands."

"We'll see about that. You're going to pay for what you and your brother did to our friends, to these Namekians, and to the Dragonballs," Goku said, clenching his fists and taking up a fighting position. Freeza powered up the same and the two faced off against each other with a bright white aura surrounding them.

"I have to give you credit, Goku," Freeza said, smiling. Goku scowled at him, wondering what this was about. "All those fights etched into my memory have motivated me to have a different outlook on my reign as Emperor of the Universe. Thanks to you, I don't feel as bothered about training to become stronger, something I always considered a nuisance and a waste of my time. But having spent all those countless years in hell gave me a fresh perspective on what it means to tear you apart and mastering my golden form was only the tip of the iceberg for what I will do to you."

Goku smirked. "You're welcome. That makes this fight all the more exciting for me."

They then disappeared and reappeared in high speed bursts, flying around the planet engaged in a heated battle.

 **The fated arrival…**

Kelerot appeared on Beerus's planet, studying the landscape. He saw a forest in the background that led its way up a larger tree that had a building-like structure embedded within it, several windows allowing him to look inward. It matched the image he had in his head before he teleported here but seeing this all in person was a whole different experience and he took it all in for a moment. Not far off from where he stood was a garden full of a variety of flowers and a crystal clear lake that looked undisturbed, creating a beautiful reflection of the forest and the large tree along its surface with the light of a makeshift sun sparkling along the edge. He could smell the fragrant florae and smiled at the sweetness of it, glancing up at the large tree. Clenching his fists, he floated up a few feet in the air.

"Toppo! I know you're in there! Show yourself!" he shouted, waiting for a response. After a few seconds went by with nothing but dead air, Kelerot raised his hand and conjured a sphere of destruction energy from his hand.

"Don't make me have to smoke you out, Toppo!" he yelled and fired the sphere. Beerus appeared in front of him and with his hand, he flicked the sphere away with his finger, sending it flying up in the air to explode above them.

"That wasn't nice of you, coming here unannounced and making demands. Usually my guests say hello when they arrive on my planet," he said, though he didn't sound like he was making jokes with his tone of voice. Kelerot frowned at him.

"I was wondering when I'd get to see the legendary Destroyer, Beerus," he said and Beerus put his hands behind his back, a little annoyed by the look on his face staring back at him.

"There's nothing more insulting than a brown-nosing mortal who has nothing better to do with their time than to kiss up to the gods," he told him and Kelerot chuckled.

"What about a mortal who's on equal footing with them?" he said with a grin and Beerus's face darkened.

"You've gained nothing with that technique of yours. Kinetic Delving is a forsaken technique and I've seen you abuse it long enough."

"I'm so crushed," Kelerot said sarcastically and Beerus raised his hand in front of him. Kelerot grinned and made a high-speed burst to avoid Beerus's hand before he could to anything and his first attack was blocked from behind.

"Are we really doing this?" Beerus asked, glancing up at him. Kelerot chuckled a bit.

"Why not? I always wondered what fighting the greatest God of Destruction who ever lived would be like. Maybe you'll be a better challenge than Jiren was," Kelerot said and Beerus growled. They started trading blows and it was drawing the attention of Whis and Vegeta, who exited the building to land on the ground below. Kelerot could still sense Barbon and Cae inside and he aimed a few large energy blasts at the tree, which Beerus easily deflected away.

Inside, Barbon was staring at Kelerot with his hands clenched tightly, angered that he couldn't do anything and Cae put his hand on his arm.

"Lord Beerus can keep him occupied now. We should return to our universe and heed his request. We can mourn the loss of the Pride Troopers afterwards," he told him and Barbon looked down at him. He kept leering at Kelerot with narrowed eyes, nothing but murderous intent in the look he was giving him. But a pleading look from Cae took him out of that mood and he nodded.

"Very well. I imagine you'll be quite busy for the next while," he said and Cae grinned.

"Nothing I haven't done before. Lord Belmod once had a bit of a meltdown some time ago and wiped out an entire star cluster with thousands of planets within it. Took me a few years to rebuild all of it but it looked better than ever. I sincerely hope our mortal rating hasn't plummeted from all this to upset the Omni Kings."

"I'm certain the Grand Minister is well aware of what has transpired and he will ease any tension our excellencies might have," Barbon said and gave Kelerot one last look of disdain before he extended his hand for Cae to hold. "Let us make haste then and leave things to Lord Beerus." Cae nodded and they both teleported away.

Kelerot glared up at the structure. "NO! I won't let you get away! Kai-Kai!"

He tried teleporting away but nothing was happening. He growled and clenched his fists.

"KAI-KAI!"

"Having trouble, are we?" Beerus said, grinning up at him. Kelerot stared down at him, then at Whis who had a smug look on his face, holding his staff.

"Sorry about that! I inadvertently created a barrier preventing anyone from teleporting out needlessly. I do so ever hate slipping like that!"

It was happening again. Kelerot felt the walls closing in on him, preventing his escape and it was tearing at his mind. Revenge was within his grasp and these two took it away from him, keeping him a prisoner within their world. Fifteen years of hell to be revisited made him feel a vein throbbing in his head and he grinned, though his smile carried a great deal of malice as he stared fiercely at Whis.

"Then I'll simply have to kill Beerus and 'deactivate' you then. I know your secrets, angel!"

"Oh my," Whis said, hand to his mouth mocking a shocked face and Kelerot shifted his gaze back at Beerus. Vegeta was observing with his arms crossed and glanced to his side at Whis.

"Let me switch out with Lord Beerus, I've got a bone to pick with this amateur," he said and Kelerot shot him a look.

"Know your place and stay there, inferior Saiyan. The Gods are talking now," he said with a huge smile and Beerus sighed. Vegeta's face darkened and he clenched his fists but Whis gently lifted the bottom of his staff, not looking at him. He scoffed and crossed his arms, watching the two in the air.

"The last time I heard a so-called 'god' try to act cocky I Destroyed him without feeling any satisfaction from it," he said and Kelerot produced an energy blade from his arm, using Kahseral's technique. He conjured a huge orange energy sphere using Jiren's technique and he stared down defiantly at Beerus.

"I've come to enjoy what I've obtained. It won't be long before I delve you and poke around your energy to see how you tick. Gaining all your precious fighting techniques will put me at the pinnacle of godhood, far above the rest of the Destroyers! I needn't worry about anything else after that and will eventually break free of this barrier and get my just revenge."

Beerus fired a few energy blasts and Kelerot sliced through them with his energy blade, sending the orange sphere down at him. Beerus caught it with his hands and used his destruction energy to cancel it with ease, erasing the large sphere completely. He powered up and a purple aura surrounded him, Kelerot doing the same.

"I have to thank Goku and Vegeta for giving me this incredible feeling of excitement I've never felt before as a Saiyan. It's so exhilarating knowing there's a strong opponent for me to fight, an insurmountable obstacle that I'm itching to destroy. Show me what you've got, Beerus."

The two began clashing again and Whis prepared barriers in case so their fighting doesn't end up destroying the planet, watching intently with Vegeta who was studying Kelerot's movements carefully. He seemed eager to finally see how Kelerot fought and didn't want to waste this opportunity now. It aggravated him seeing Kelerot hover up there mocking his heritage like that and he could do nothing but watch the fight for now.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28 – "Learn the fusion dance! A cornered Tundral unleashes his true power."**

 **A fierce brawl on Namek…**

Cooler grabbed Broly's fists and kicked him a few times in the face but the Saiyan didn't relent and threw his arms out to release himself and he laid into Cooler with a hard right to the face. Cooler smirked, wiping the side of his face and Broly continued his assault, throwing haymakers that Cooler blocked, but the force of each impact sent him back and he snickered a bit.

"You're as impressive as the reports have said you'd be," he said, but Broly was full on in his aggressive state and didn't say anything, only continued grunting and growling as he moved around with Cooler, flying across the landscape. Cooler fired a few energy blasts that hit Broly but it did nothing but spur the Saiyan on as he dived down to grab Cooler by the tail and throw him to the ground, stunning him. He hadn't expected Broly to move as fast as he did and he had to spin around to free himself, striking the Saiyan in the face with his tail, moving it back and forth to slap him a few more times.

Broly fired a huge green colored energy blast from his mouth that caused Cooler to look back in surprise and he blocked the attack with his arms, returning fire with a finger beam that struck Broly in the forehead, but the burly Saiyan merely glared back with veins popping out from the side of his forehead and Cooler grinned.

"You haven't truly begun to entertain me, monkey. Let's dance," he said and the two blazed around again, moving in high speed bursts as they disappeared and reappeared to strike each other.

Goku and Freeza continued their light battle, knowing they weren't quite ready to take it to the next level yet, and both wore smiles as they fought, blocking each other's shots as they flew around. They landed successive blows to each other's faces that rocked themselves backwards a bit but they kept going, increasing their speed as they moved around. Goku could sense the growing power within Broly and saw explosions and energy blasts off in the distance. He blocked a near heavy punch to the face from Freeza and had to make himself sure not to get distracted by Broly's fight to concentrate on Freeza's movements as the two landed on the ground. They immediately resumed, launching themselves at each other and their movements were building up in speed and power as they kicked and punched at each other. Goku blocked and spun around to hit Freeza in the back of the head with a roundhouse kick, which caused him to retaliate with a quick blast from his finger aimed at Goku's chest. The Saiyan knocked it away and Freeza continued to fire several more, moving in high speed bursts charging up an energy attack in his hand, flying up to use both hands to launch it down at Goku. The energy ball grew double in size and Goku had to catch it in his hands, the force of the ball pushing down on him and Goku let out a yell to send it flying back up to the sky.

Freeza didn't stop there and was immediately diving down to catch Goku with a punch that was caught in his hand. Goku went in for a punch that Freeza blocked and they continued their fight, blocking each other's punches.

While the Saiyans were busy fighting, Berryblue and Bonyu had returned to the ship. The diminutive blue-skinned woman led her to the bridge where the crew were standing by and she stood with her hands behind her back.

"Prepare the ship for launch, I want this off the planet and standing by in orbit," she said and the crew glanced at each other, confused.

"What's wrong? Namekian air made you all deaf or something? Do what Lady Berryblue says!" Bonyu yelled and the crew panicked, scrambling to sit at their posts and the pilots began entering a few keystrokes on the console, starting the ship up. The latches and domes closed around the hull of the ship as the landing gear retracted itself and the ship slowly began to rise up in the sky. Freeza spotted the ship leaving and grinned. Cooler noticed it as well but he was too focused on Broly to really care. He and Freeza knew they could simply leave the planet to return to their ship whenever they wanted to and Cooler felt at least a degree of ease knowing that his ship wouldn't be destroyed or heavily damaged from the continuous fighting. He wanted to rub that in Freeza's face soon after he disposed of this Saiyan brute and he went in for another punch to Broly's head, but the Saiyan's large hand grabbed Cooler by his head and shoved him hard into the side of a rocky plateau, surprising him. Broly shoved him even more into the rocky surface and Cooler's eyes glowed red with an energy attack and he fired it at Broly. It hit him directly and Broly staggered back a few steps, letting go of Cooler and he followed up with another few energy blasts that kept knocking Broly back a few steps before he grabbed him by the face and flew forward, dragging the Saiyan along his back across the ground, plowing him through the grass, dirt, and rocks that were buried underneath.

Broly screamed and fired an energy blast from his chest that collided against Cooler and it pushed him to the air off of him and Broly stood back up, launching himself off the ground to appear in front of Cooler as he recovered from the energy blast. Broly took a few hits from Cooler but kept going, laying into him with a few hard punches and Cooler gasped from a stomach blow, glaring up at him. He caught Broly's fist before he could hit him again and charged up an energy ball from his other hand, shoving it in Broly's face. The Saiyan was taking a great deal of hits to his head but that didn't slow him down at all. It was only fueling the growing amount of anger within him and Broly fired back with another huge green energy wave from his mouth that Cooler caught with his hands and he glared menacingly at Broly before he launched it away from him, letting it continue onward to strike a section of land masses in the distance. The impact exploded, causing a huge dome of energy to form itself, decimating the terrain around it. Broly continued staring fiercely at Cooler and he screamed again, his power growing even more as his Super Saiyan aura surrounded him. His hair changed and his physique bulked out, his shirt tearing itself off from the size increase and Cooler's eyes narrowed.

"I hardly call what we were doing earlier a warm up but since you're eager to heat things up, I'll gladly oblige myself."

An intense aura surrounded Cooler as he too began to transform in front of Broly, which stunned him a bit but his facial expression continued to show levels of anger a berserker Saiyan would show.

Cooler's size began to increase as his muscles were also expanding. The shoulder plates of his exoskeletal structure shifted and grew out and the plate on his head grew spikes outward with a gem in the middle. His eyes changed to a complete crimson red and he grinned maliciously at Broly as the forearm plates grew spiked blades with another blue gem protruding itself on the side. When he finished his transformation, a face guard covered his mouth and he clenched his fists.

"I'll make this as quick and painless as possible," he said and rushed Broly with a knee to the Saiyan's gut, causing Broly to gasp and spit out bile. But he shook his head and screamed, bringing the fight back to Cooler and they resumed moving around the battlefield, throwing heavy blows at each other.

Freeza grinned as he could see what was transpiring and he glanced back at Goku. "My brother insists on finishing this fight quickly. I suppose we can drop this amusing warm up and get down to business ourselves?"

He cracked his neck and wasted no time, belting out a scream as he changed into his Golden form, shifting his color scheme to purple skin with golden exoskeletal plating around him and Goku grinned.

"Right," he muttered and closed his eyes. Screaming himself, he powered his body into his god form, his charcoal hair flaring up to change into its blue color and he exploded with his Super Saiyan Blue form, hovering in front of Freeza.

"Ho? No Ultra Instinct?" Freeza asked and Goku grinned.

"Not yet," he said and Freeza paused for a moment, frowning a bit. He felt that Goku was still concealing a great deal of power and wasted no time in moving in to attack him. Goku blocked the first few shots and noticed how faster Freeza's movements were as he danced around the field.

"You must've gone through a lot of training over the years," he said and Freeza grinned as they continued exchanging blows.

"It's as I said before, you've motivated me to train myself, something I didn't think I was ever going to adapt into my life," Freeza fired several finger blasts that Goku dodged but he redirected them back at him, like homing missiles aimed straight at him. Goku flew around and dodged them as they flew by, catching Freeza's fist as the golden tyrant moved up to strike his blind spot. He grabbed Goku from behind to allow the finger beams to home in on Goku but he got a headbutt from behind to his face, releasing the Saiyan from his grip and he had to quickly blast the homing beams in the air before they could hit him. Goku was quick on the draw and rocked Freeza in the face with a hard right but Freeza pushed back against the punch with an infuriated glare, gritting his teeth.

"What?" Goku cried and blocked more of Freeza's punches as he was raining down on him. _He's definitely gotten stronger since the Tournament of Power._

 **Back on Earth…**

Gohan and Android 17 circled Tundral as they were firing consecutive energy blasts at the fused android and it swept the blast away with another sonic attack, much stronger than Tundra's was when the androids were separate. Tundral moved his hands to his side and from his shoulder blades he unleashed another huge sonic wave against Gohan and 17, forcing him to deflect it with a barrier. The vibrations were fierce against it and the barrier was cracking rather quickly. He reinforced it with several more barriers and the sonic vibrations shattered the first one, pressing hard against the rest of them until the next one shattered, followed by the third, then the fourth.

"These can't withstand those sonic attacks, we need something to counter those vibrations," 17 said, throwing a few more barriers to buy them some time. Tundral laughed as he was blaring the sonic vibrations and he clenched his fists.

"Your barrier is useless! Give up and suffer endless pain!" Tundral shouted in his double voice and Gohan channeled his own energy to strengthen the barrier and he glanced at 17.

"I can sense Piccolo's on his way. The more we have here with us, the better our strategy can get. If I can gauge the frequency of those vibrations, I might produce a counter vibration to neutralize it, but I need enough time to calculate everything."

"How much time do you need?" 17 asked.

"As much as you can afford without taking too much damage. I don't want you to risk yourself recklessly," Gohan told him and 17 nodded. He flew around to throw a few energy attacks at Tundral to gain his attention and he stopped his sonic wave to take the energy attacks full on, hitting him but having no effect on him. He grinned up at 17.

"What a waste of a creation you are. If you had been made with superior Tsufurian technology, you'd live among these worms like a god!"

"Having power over others means nothing to me. I have everything I need right here and I can't allow you to take any more of that away," he said and charged in for an attack, using his super speed to avoid Tundral's sonic waves. Gohan studied the movements closely and observed the shoulders as Tundral was moving around to direct his attacks at 17.

"The air distortion they create paired with the distance travelled and duration of each attack has a point zero zero three second differential between each burst. I just need one more minute to figure out the frequency of a counter vibration to cancel his attack," Gohan said, hand to his chin. He went over several algorithms and calculations in his head as he watched Tundral's movements and could tell there was a consistent pattern to the way Tundral was firing each sonic wave, regardless of where he was aiming and he could sense that Piccolo was drawing nearer to the battlefield.

As Piccolo flew in towards Gohan, he met him half-way and smiled with a nod of his head.

"Thank goodness you're back with us, Piccolo. I was afraid there was nothing we could've done to get rid of that energy inside you and you'd be lost to us."

"I owe you and Goku for that," he said with a grin and turned his attention to Tundral as 17 was moving around like an annoying fly that liked buzzing around the head.

"Watch out for his sonic attacks, he's been keeping everyone at a distance for some time. I don't know how that might affect your enhanced hearing so I wanted to warn you first."

"As long as I'm not caught in the wave directly I should be fine," Piccolo said, hovering beside him.

"I've noticed a pattern to those attacks and I can come up with a counter to the vibration frequency but I need a few seconds to make the proper calculations myself in my head."

"What are you thinking?"

"Use my hands to create a vibration that matches the frequency of those sonic waves so I can neutralize it and stop them completely," Gohan raised his hands in front of him, demonstrating with a quick vibration of his hands.

"Keep in mind you've never attempted something like this before," Piccolo noted and Gohan kept staring at Tundral.

"I know but being able to use all my years of studying to help me out in a fight has me feeling as excited as father does."  
Gohan grinned and glanced at Piccolo, who put a hand on his shoulder. "Be careful."

Piccolo powered up and charged forth towards Tundral, who spotted him at the last moment and swept a sonic wave behind him with a movement of his arm and Piccolo put up a tight defense to block most of it and he grunted as the vibration hit him dead on.

"Piccolo! Are you alright?" Gohan shouted, ready to jump in but Piccolo held him at bay with a raised hand.

"I'm fine, focus on your strategy!" he shouted back and he and 17 gave each other a look before they circled around Tundral. He crossed his arms and threw them out, surrounding himself with several consecutive sonic waves that expanded around his body in all directions, an omni-directional attack that forced 17 to throw up another barrier and Piccolo to fire off a few energy blasts at Tundral before the sonic wave hit him and the area around him became distorted, catching him within it. Gohan cringed when he saw the wave move through Piccolo, distorting the image of his body in front of him and the Namekian screamed from the impact. He grunted and glared at Tundral after the wave passed and stopped and he put his two hands together, fingers touching each other at the tips and he charged up energy in between his hands in the negative space within. 17 built up energy as well and let out a scream before he puffed out his chest and fired off a powerful bubble of air down at Tundral, colliding against another sonic wave that he had burst out from around him, and the impact created an explosion that tossed the android and Piccolo back, Tundral raising a hand in slight defense from the elevated power of the explosion.

Gohan looked at his hands in front of him and closed his eyes. He began vibrating his hands rapidly to the point where they were becoming blurry and he believed he had the right frequency in mind as he was doing this.

"I've only got one shot at this, better make it count," he said and flew off towards Tundral, focusing his energy towards a singular position and Tundral responded by turning around and firing pinpoint sonic wave attacks towards Gohan, who was able to deflect and cancel them as he flew inward and Tundral's eyes widened.

"What?!"

Gohan screamed as he flew in with a punch that Tundral blocked with a forearm but screamed as the vibrating fist from Gohan send shockwaves throughout his body and Gohan hit him squarely in the face with his other vibrating fist and the vibration collided with the sonic vibration from Tundral's shoulders, cancelling each other out and Tundral was sent flying. Gohan powered up into a burst of speed to disappear and reappear behind the fused android to knock him back with a counter punch and he made another burst to appear above him, cupping his hands together for a Kamehameha blast.

Tundral recovered enough to look on in shock as Gohan unleashed a powerful blue energy wave that hit him directly and pushed him down towards the ocean. Tundral screamed as he charged up an energy blast of his own to counter the force of the Kamehameha blast and the two burst into a powerful explosion that blew away everything around it. The explosion split the water around it, exposing the ocean floor and the cascade of energy bombarded an island below, though not the one that was among 17's islands he was protecting. Tundral growled fiercely at Gohan, looking scraped and partially damaged from the attack and he clenched his fists.

"That was dirty," he said calmly but with a hint of pure rage behind it. But he started grinning at Gohan as he raised his arms and they detached themselves from his body.

"What the?!" Gohan cried.

"But not as dirty as this!" Tundral yelled and the arms shifted into a liquid state and flew to android 17. He quickly threw up a barrier around himself and the liquid arms enveloped it, trapping 17 inside. It pressed down on it and began cracking the energy underneath it until it shattered it and it began covering 17, absorbing itself through the android's skin and 17 gasped, his face beginning to panic. Gohan and Piccolo watched on in horror as 17 began to change and his skin and hair changed color as well. His normal humanoid skin was shifting to a light blue and his black hair changed completely to white while his eyes had the same red grid lines that Gohan noticed on Piccolo and Tien from before. Red and yellow lines appeared above 17's right eye, replacing his eyebrows and the possessed android smiled down at the two while Tundral laughed.

"How does it feel to have to fight one of your own again, Saiyan?" Tundral boasted and Gohan clenched his fists. Piccolo flew over to his side.

"Leave him to me," he told him and Gohan looked at him.

"Are you sure?"

"I don't know how well that android fights without the use of his arms but I'm familiar with how 17 fights so it's best I handle him while you keep at it with the android."

"Right. Be careful, Piccolo. His resilience has to be astronomical now and he can probably handle anything you throw at him," Gohan informed him and Piccolo was ready for this. He put two fingers to his forehead and began charging up energy for a Special Beam Cannon, smirking down at 17.

"Round 2," the Namekian said and flew down to engage him.

In the partially destroyed island, Uub appeared near Trunks and Goten, who were lying down unconscious. Their bodies had been thrown around a bit from the sonic wave destruction earlier but they weren't affected all that much. He checked their vitals and sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness he didn't kill you both, Pan and Bulla would lose it if you both died on us," he said and draped Goten's body over his left shoulder, while grabbing Trunks by the arm with his hand, using his other hand to put two fingers to his forehead. He glanced up and watched Piccolo fight someone with snow white hair and then spotted Gohan engaged in a fight with another creature that was blocking with its legs since it was fighting him without arms. Uub had a grim look on his face and glanced down at the two in his grasp, then back at the fight and nodded.

"I'll be right back," he said and teleported away back to Capsule Corporation.

 **A hasty decision to join ranks…**

Uub reappeared at the front of the compound with Trunks and Goten and he ran into the building, searching for Pan and Bulla. They were on their way out when he almost ran them over and stopped himself short, his feet dragging on the floor as he put on the brakes.

"Whoa! Uub! Watch yourself!" Bulla shouted as she raised her hands quickly to keep herself from being knocked over and Uub spotted the bag of senzu beans tied around Pan's belt she had around her dress.

"I brought Trunks and Goten back, we need to give them senzu beans immediately!" Uub said and ran back in the opposite direction. Pan and Bulla nodded at each other and ran as fast as they could to keep up with Uub and they exited the front entrance. Bulla gasped as she saw her brother and Pan was equally mortified when she saw how damaged they were. Bulla knelt down and put her brother's head on her lap and he grunted a bit, gritting his teeth.

"He's coming to," she said and Pan took out two senzu beans, handing one of them to Bulla who shoved it in Trunks's mouth while Pan forced the other down Goten's. They waited to see if they were going to eat them and their mouths began moving by themselves as they chewed it down and swallowed it. Their eyes opened afterwards and they sat up. Bulla wrapped her arms around her brother and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank goodness you made it back in time," she said, holding his face against hers and Pan helped Goten to a seated position.

"Uncle Goten, are you alright?" she asked and Goten rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, I'm fine now, thanks."

He stood up and Trunks was helped to his feet by Bulla and they both had grim looks on their faces as they glanced at each other.

"I saw that thing you guys were fighting and if he was able to knock you both out like that he must be incredibly powerful."

Trunks stared down at the ground, sighing. "It's not that. He is strong, yes, but not impossible to defeat. I've lost my fighting edge and that affected Gotenks's ability to fight effectively as well."

"Huh? Really? I thought we were doing really well until that thing caught us off-guard. You can't blame yourself for our defeat, Trunks," Goten told him and Trunks shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Goten. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I can't keep doing this, not when I've become a liability to us during a fight."

"Then teach us how to fuse and we'll take out that freak for you," Bulla said and Trunks's eyes widened as he gazed at her.

"Seriously? You and Pan want to learn the fusion dance?"

Pan and Bulla both nodded in unison and the two older boys glanced at each other.

"We don't have that kind of time though," Uub piped in, surprisingly, getting everyone's attention. "The longer we keep standing around, the worst it'll get for Gohan and Piccolo. They're both fighting that android and something else that appeared on the field."

"Can you hold them off for thirty minutes?" Pan asked him and Uub lifted an eyebrow.

"Pan, you can't learn how to master the fusion dance in half an hour, that's impossible," Goten told her and she gave him a smirk.

"Not if you have a room that extends that time by a whole week," she said and the older boys' eyes lit up.

"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber, of course!" Trunks shouted and he counted on his hand.

"Thirty minutes is at least a week in there, and Goten and I were able to master it within that time period so this could theoretically work."

Bulla gave Pan a look of confidence and smiled up at him. "We'll do it in three."

"Three days?! Are you kidding me? You have to spend every single minute acting completely in sync with one another if you're ever going to master the dance poses correctly and there's no guarantee that your fusion will be successful the first time you do it!"

Trunks had a few sweat beads trickle down his face and Pan and Bulla stood before him, hands on their hips.

"We'll train as hard as we can!" they shouted together and Goten chuckled, glancing at Trunks.

"Well, they do have the enthusiasm for it. But I hope you can master this as quickly as possible so we don't spend too much time in there," he told them and they nodded together. Turning to Uub, Goten noted a hint of determination in the way Uub was staring back at them.

"You're going to fight that android?" he asked and Uub nodded.

"Yeah. I think master Goku would agree that this is important for the sake of this planet. We have to be there to defend it when he's not available."

"Yeah. Come on Trunks, let's get to Kami's lookout as quickly as possible," Goten said and the four left. Pan and Uub stared at each other for a few seconds before Pan turned to fly off and Uub closed his eyes, focusing his power and bringing two fingers to his forehead.

"Uub!" Bok's voice came as he noticed the group that were standing together seconds earlier.

"Bok, you just missed everyone, they're off to do some special training," Uub told him and Bok looked up and could see a small speck that resembled Bulla fly out of his line of sight and he sighed a bit.

"I was hoping I could say goodbye to her before she left," he said and Uub nodded.

"They'll only be gone for thirty minutes at most so you'll get to see her not too long from now," Uub informed him and Bok lifted an eyebrow in confusion.

"Oh right, you've never been in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. It's a…strange place that alters time and it moves several times faster than time out here."

"I see. I'm really worried about Choi; he's never been this angry before. I don't know what he's capable of doing in this state and I'm afraid he might hurt someone as a result, or worse."

Bok had a distressed look on his face as he kept looking where he had come from and Uub gave him a reassuring smile.

"I think I might know who he can unleash his anger on. Take me to him."

Bok's eyes widened a bit but Uub pressed him on with a nod in Bok's direction and Bok led him to his brother, who was standing with his arms crossed, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles were white. He stared ahead at nothing in particular but he glanced behind him without moving his head, staring back in front of him again.

"You don't have anyone to focus your anger on, right? I know you want to let all that pent up frustration out. I know just the one to do it," Uub said and Choi narrowed his eyes as he turned his head to face him.

"If you both come with me, we can tackle that android that's been causing problems since it got here a few days ago. We can do something good for this planet, or at least have a good fight. I know you've been wanting a good fight, you and your brother." Choi belted out a gruff sigh as he stared back ahead.

"Okay, I admit I don't know everything about Saiyans but if you're anything like Master Goku, you can't resist a good fight against a strong opponent."

Choi turned around completely and walked right up to him, staring up at him since he had to tilt his head up a bit. "You'd better not be lying to me, fauxhawk, or you'll be the one I take it out on, got it?"

Uub smiled. "Don't worry, that thing'll be more than enough for you. I know what kind of power you're carrying inside you and hitting that monster with everything you've got will be what we need right now." _At least for half an hour, then we'll see if the girls can pull off their fusion and destroy this thing._

Uub didn't like that he was using Choi as a distraction for the android to fight but knowing how much pent up rage this boy had, it was only fitting that he'd direct it to the right source. Bok gave his brother a small nod with a grin on his face but Choi didn't say anything else, crossing his arms.

"Hold on tight," he said, holding his hand out and Bok took it, putting a hand on Choi's shoulder, who eyed it warily but let it stay there for now until Uub brought the three of them over there and he put two fingers to his forehead, concentrating on Gohan's energy and the three teleported away.

Meanwhile, Lemo was pulling a few herbs from his cooler and chopped them up on the counter at the room they were all staying at. He placed them in the pot as the liquid was boiling and he drank in the savory smells from the herbs and spices he put inside, smiling.

"Once Bok and Choi get a taste of this, they'll never want horrible cafeteria food ever again," he said, stirring the pot with a wooden spoon and he put the lid back on top.

"I don't know, I don't really mind the food they have here, to be honest," Cheelai said, bouncing Arugula on her leg and getting a few giggles out of her as she swung Mr. Bronto around like an airplane, the first time today she wore pure joy on her face and Cheelai stopped a moment, leaning against the table, sighing heavily.

"Don't worry about Broly, he and Goku will take care of Freeza," he said and Cheelai shot him a look, nodding at Arugula and Lemo swallowed. "Sorry."

"Where's Bok and Choi? They should've been back here an hour ago," she said, looking at the clock on the wall. It was nearing their usual dinner time and Lemo peeked at the time as well, shrugging his shoulders.

"I gave up waiting on those two long ago. They'll come back when they're hungry enough."

"You're not their parent, though. I don't like having them wander around so much in a place they've never been to before and I worry Choi's gonna get himself into trouble with some of the people around this place. Broly's not here to keep him in check and I can't sense energy like they can so they could be anywhere right now."

"Here, taste this and stop worrying so much," Lemo said, holding a spoonful of the pot's contents over to her and she blew on it before slurping it in her mouth and her eyes lit up.

"Holy crap that's good," she exclaimed and she could start smelling the concoction completely now and her cheeks reddened with anticipation. The feeling of this cooking reminded her of being held in Broly's arms and her heart skipped a beat, her cheeks blushing even more red and she closed her eyes, smiling and losing herself in thought. Lemo chuckled and put the spoon back on a placeholder and turned the heat down to a simmer to let the rest of the pot cook away and he eased himself into a chair.

"So you try and talk to Videl at some point?" he asked and Cheelai blinked, coming off her small trance-like state and she looked at Lemo.

"Not really no. I'm not in the mood to talk to anyone right now. Being on this planet again seems to bring a lot of bad memories back for me," she said, resting her chin on her hands as she leaned forward on the dining table. She saw Arugula working on a doodle with some crayons and colored paper and grinned a bit before she stared out the window. She decided to get off her chair and walk out to the balcony, opening the sliding door as she could see the sun begin to set over the horizon, marking the coming dusk. She felt the breeze caress her face and hair and she brushed it away, holding the back of her head at the base of her neck, sighing again.

"Please don't let her prediction come true…" she whispered, staring up at the sky.

 **Teaching Fusion…**

When the four arrived on the lookout, Dende and Mr. Popo emerged out of the main building to greet them.

"Hey Dende! Hey Mr. Popo!" Pan cried out, waving at them. Dende waved back and the two stopped, bowing before the four of them.

"It's good to see you're all still safe," Dende said and both Trunks and Goten were the first to approach them.

"We need the Chamber for thirty minutes. We're going to spend that time teaching these girls to master the fusion dance," he informed them and Popo smiled up at him.

"Understood. Chamber is this way," he said in his strange voice and led the four of them to the inside of the building, escorting them to the door that opened up to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

"Certain you only need thirty minutes?" he asked and both Pan and Bulla nodded.

"Yeah, that's more than enough time for us to master this," Pan said and Popo opened the door for them.

"Good luck in there," he said and closed the door behind them after they all entered.

Bulla couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the vast emptiness of the chamber, the structure overlooking a white void that stretched on forever and she felt a drastic change in temperature as one moment it climbed up to blistering humid temperatures and then dropped to a cold that made her shiver and wrap her arms around herself.

"What the heck's up with the temperature in this place?" she said while shivering.

"You'll get used to it rather quickly. Also, mind the first step when you get off the platform, the gravity's different here too," Pan noted and ran to the surface past the platform step and she began stretching and warming up. Bulla took it all in, continuing to hold herself and she nearly fell forward as she stepped off the platform and steadied herself on her feet, gasping.

"Told you," Pan said, bending to her side. She kept looking at her dress and sighed, wishing she had the time to change back into her other clothes but had to stick with it just a while longer. Bulla examined the ground and felt a strange smoothness to it. It felt like her hand was passing through a large wad of cotton balls yet when she stomped down on it with her foot, she was surprised to find that it was remarkably sturdy.

"This place is so weird," she said, hands on her hips and both Goten and Trunks cleared their throats.

"Time's wasting, let's get started!" Trunks called out to them and the two girls stayed close together while Goten and Trunks stood in front of them several feet away. They both nodded at each other and took up a spot further apart from each other and they stared ahead at the girls.

"The first thing we need you both to focus on mastering are the poses you need to make in unison. Each movement, each breath, each angle, have to be exactly the same from the both of you on opposite ends. Think of two flowing rivers of water coming together to collide against one another but flowing like reflections in the mirror. You have to be like a reflection as you move towards each other."

Bulla and Pan sat down to listen as Trunks explained things and Pan tilted her head, a little confused, while Bulla tightened the corner of her mouth, almost losing interest in Trunks's long-winded explanation.

"Pay attention you two, this is important. Now, to start the fusion, your poses must be like this," Trunks said and both he and Goten raised their hands horizontally in front of them, palms facing in. Their legs were apart in a slightly wide stance as both Bulla and Pan looked on, slightly confused.

"Make absolutely sure the arms are exactly 180 degrees horizontally and your hands are open completely. Like a line that's drawn across from you from shoulder to fingertips. Your feet have to be exactly this width apart to start it off. Next," Trunks looked at Goten, who continued the explanation.

"Take three whole steps, making careful note of the way your feet move as you're both drawing yourselves inward and moving your arms in an arc-like fashion. The both of you must begin the fusion chant by saying 'fuuuuu' together as you move three steps like this."

When they finished taking three steps inward, they moved their arms back to their original position but their hands closed themselves into fists. The girls gawked at the two as they saw Trunks's left leg and Goten's right leg lift up and bend itself at the knee in front of their other leg as it stood on its toes.

"When you reach this point, your positioning should look exactly like this, and you both need to shout "sion!" at the same time, in perfect unison. Always remember your breathing and your movements have to be in complete synchronization."

"Then the final part of the movement goes like this," Trunks finished and the two cried "Ha!", moving their legs back down and touching each other's index fingers together at the tips.

"The angles of your bodies must be exactly 45 degrees when your fingers touch. Any deviation in the angle or the way your fingers touch will result in a failure and the fusion will be botched."

When the two finished explaining, they thought the girls had understood what had just been explained but they weren't expecting them to burst out in a fit of giggles and they threw their heads back, laughing out loud. Bulla had her hand to her eyes, covering them as she fell back and Pan was on her side, laughing hysterically. Trunks's face went red with embarrassment and Goten put a hand to his face, sighing heavily. Bulla managed to sit back up and she tried to speak through each bout of laughter.

"You can't be serious!" she belted and tried to calm herself down, only to have another fit of laughter burst out from her and Pan had to hold herself up against Bulla to keep herself from falling back down and the two boys glared down at them, annoyed.

"Are you two done yet?" Trunks cried, hands on his hips and Bulla took a few deep breaths, nodding but trying to stifle more laughter. She glanced once at Pan who made a face and the two burst out laughing once more.

"Hey, this is serious! We only have a week to get this done otherwise this would've been a waste of time!" Goten yelled but the girls continued laughing and the two looked at each other, nodding.

"Right, playtime's over," Trunks said and the two brought themselves back into their original position. They powered up and performed the fusion dance with rapid ease and combined into Gotenks, their power blowing Pan and Bulla back towards the structure and their laughter came to a screeching halt.

"H-hey! Wait a minute!" Bulla screamed and Gotenks was now glowering at them.

"So you think the fusion dance is funny, do you?" he told them in his dual voice and Bulla chuckled nervously.

"Well, it is kinda funny when you look at it," she said and Gotenks grinned.

"How's this for funny?" he said and blew out a few white wisps from his mouth and Bulla's eyes widened.

"Hey, that's not cool, broth…er, Goten, er, Gah!" she was confused as to how to address him and the Super Ghost Kamikaze copies formed themselves in front of Gotenks, half a dozen in total and they lined up with an equal glowering expression on their faces, crossing their arms.

"They think our dance is hilarious. Why don't you show them a funny dance?" he said and the ghosts all grinned at the girls, who stood up quickly.

"Uh, Pan?"

"Y-yeah?"

"RUN!" Bulla yelled and the two girls ran and flew around as the ghosts were giving them chase, three to each one and they had to power up to even remotely handle the damage that they were going to deal should they ever come in contact with them and Bulla was screaming "We're sorry! We won't laugh anymore, we swear it! Right, Pan?!"

"Right! I swear to god we'll stop! Please, call these things back!" Pan cried out and Gotenks had his hands behind his head, whistling with a smirk on his face.

After a few minutes passed by, Bulla and Pan walked back to Gotenks, looking slightly damaged from the attack they had suffered and Pan coughed, wincing at the pain on the side of her face and arm and Bulla's face was slightly swollen from one side.

"So? Still feel like laughing?" Gotenks asked with a salacious grin on his face and Pan stood tall, staring at him with a face full of regret. Bulla held the side of her face and nodded.

"We're sorry we laughed at you," she said, looking away and Gotenks smirked. After thirty minutes had passed, Gotenks defused back into Goten and Trunks and they both stood over the two girls, arms crossed.

"Each minute that you two spend together in this place has to be done in sync, no ifs ands or buts, got it? You have to act as one unit, one person, as though you already are the fusion you're supposed to be. Understood?"

"Yes brother!" Bulla shouted despite the swelling on her face and the two girls proceeded to start moving together, sometimes faltering as they tried to move in sync and they nursed their injuries together, bathed together in unison and ate together in unison. After a day and a half, their movements were pretty well linked together and Goten and Trunks nodded.

"Good, you've been paying attention and working together quite well," he told them and the two girls stood together.

"Now, before you start practicing your fusion poses, the other important thing to remember is your energy levels as you're doing this. Power up as you normally would so we can gauge how well in sync they are."

Pan and Bulla nodded, then channeled energy to power up. Pan raised hers a lot faster than Bulla's, who glanced to her side and tried to raise hers even higher.

"This isn't a competition, you have to raise it as one, remember?" Goten told them and Pan lowered hers.

"Bulla, adjust yours down slightly," Trunks said and Bulla nodded. The two girls were sweating a bit as they were moving their power up and down until Trunks raised his hand.  
"Stop, that's perfect. Now remember that power, both of you."

The girls focused their breathing and concentrated on remembering their level of energy and decided it was good enough and powered back down.

"Make sure you remember that as you're doing this, otherwise your fusion won't have the power it needs to pack a strong enough punch," Trunks said and the girls nodded together.

"Now start practicing your fusion poses and don't stop until we say so," he said and sat down on the ground with Goten, watching as the girls fumbled several times, growing visibly frustrated as they were constantly corrected with each mistake and Pan was the first to lose her temper.

"I'd have it down by now if Bulla would stop hesitating on extending her finger!" she yelled and Bulla glared at her.  
"Well your angle keeps slipping five degrees, Pan! I don't want us looking like some freak when we fuse, alright?!"

"Your face will make us look freakish enough as it is!" Pan yelled back.  
"What did you say?!"

"Stop it you two!" Trunks yelled and the girls continued staring at each other. Goten stifled a yawn and glanced at him.

"Let's call it a day, Trunks, I'm beat. They can't keep going like this if they're this upset. It'll throw off their rhythm the rest of the week."

"Fine. Go grab a bite to eat, wash up and get to bed," he said, walking past them and Bulla closed her eyes, calming herself down. She glanced at Trunks as he pulled up a chair to sit down on and she frowned, shooting him a worried look.

"Brother," she muttered, sighing and Pan pursed her lips, putting her hand on Bulla's shoulders.

"He's right though, we've done this for so long I can't think straight anymore. I really could use a bath right about now."

Goten walked past them to join Trunks at the table.

"Is everything okay, Trunks? Has everything lately been really getting to you this much?" he asked and Trunks had one leg crossed over the other, arms folded in front of him while brooding down at the table.

"I hate not having a moment to breathe, Goten. I hate that I'm always dragged into one thing right after the next and never having one moment to think. Whether I'm training with dad or Bulla, or working with Mom and Grandfather, I'm always pulled in one direction at all times and I can't have a moment to myself to put a barrier to keep everyone away."

"This isn't still about Mai, is it?" Goten asked and Trunks's eyes widened, glancing at him.

"She really messed you up when she left you, Trunks. But now that she's back, it didn't seem to change you all that much anyway."

Bulla and Pan walked back up the step and Bulla walked over to her brother, wrapping her arms around him.

"Please cheer up. You're both trying really hard to help us master this fusion dance and I owe you a great debt of gratitude. I love you, brother."

She kissed him on the cheek and walked to the bathroom with Pan. Trunks grinned a bit, feeling his cheek and Goten gave him a small punch to the arm.

"Let's worry about relaxing until after we've taken this android out," he said and Trunks nodded.

"Yeah."

 **The twins' power…**

When Uub appeared with Bok and Choi, the boys took a look at the archipelago below them. Bok took in the surroundings and felt a sense of comfort and serenity, though some of it ebbed quickly as he saw some of the islands destroyed and much of the landscape that was on them had been wiped out. He looked uneasy and closed his eyes.

"Are there people out in the universe capable of such destruction?" he asked, seeing this all before him for the first time and he couldn't help but glance at Choi, who had his arms crossed as he stared ahead at the battle in front of him.

"Is that the android? Looks pretty weak to me," Choi asked. Uub flew on ahead.

"We can't say for sure what kind of strength this thing has until we start fighting it," he told him and powered up to catch up to Gohan quickly. Bok floated beside his brother and Choi finally cracked a smile after a while.

"I'm so angry I want to punch something a million times. Wanna help your brother vent some aggression?" Choi asked and Bok chuckled a bit.

"Sure, why not? Let's show this android what we can really do when we fight together. We even had dad sweating a bit, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I remember," Choi said, cracking his knuckles and he powered up to his Super Saiyan state. Bok built up his power as well and the two boys flew off to join Gohan and Uub.

"Uub," Gohan said as he saw him in his line of sight. "I thought you were going to stay and look after everyone."

"Pan and Bulla are training with Goten and Trunks on the fusion dance. I didn't sense any danger near Metro west and figured after watching you fight this android you might need some help. Where's Piccolo?"

"Over there," Gohan said with a frown, and Uub gasped as he saw android 17 with a malicious smile on his face, pure white hair and light blue skin fighting Piccolo, as their fists clashed against each other in the sky.

Bok and Choi stopped behind the two and Gohan glanced once before he had to block Tundral's kicks and the android smirked.

"Heh, more lambs to the slaughter, eh? Perfect."

"What's so perfect about an armless trashcan?" Choi said, punching the inside of his palm.

"Be careful, he's strong. He doesn't have any energy to sense so you have to use your range of motion and sight to gauge where he's going to fight."

Choi waved him off. "Yeah yeah, strong guy, whatever. C'mon Bok, let's mess it up."

"Right," Bok said and the two circled around Tundral, who was puzzled at first but then began laughing.

"Your best fighters are gone and all that's left are the children!" he yelled but was rocked in the face by a hard punch from Choi. Uub's eyes widened a bit.

"That was a heavier punch that I've normally seen him throw," he said and glanced at the fight between Piccolo and 17.

"I'm going to help out Piccolo," he said and powered up to join the Namekian. Gohan went to strike Tundral but Choi raised his hand up.

"Stay outta this, this is my fight now," he said with a grin on his face and nimbly dodged Tundral's roundhouse kick, landing on top of the android's leg to boost himself off and he flew around in an unorthodox manner, kicking him hard in the face once more. Bok powered into a burst of speed and kneed Tundral in the stomach, winding him and the android glared at the two. Even Gohan couldn't believe it.

"What the heck's going on?"

"Ah ah, can't have you learning our secrets now," Choi said playfully and swerved to avoid another kick from Tundral. Both he and Bok grabbed Tundral's legs and dragged him down to throw him into the ocean and the android cried out in panic. He began shooting energy beams from his eyes that forced the two to let go and Bok stopped in place to hover and set up his perfect defense. Tundral fired several more energy beams from his eyes but they bounced off him like they were nothing.

"What?!"

"You're wide open!" Choi yelled and unloaded on him with a barrage of punches that forced the android to stagger back and he screamed out a sonic wave from his mouth at Choi.

"Choi!" Bok yelled and began moving again to kick Tundral in the back of the head and Choi had to put up his arms to defend himself as the powerful wave swept through him. Choi shook his head afterwards and his vision had been blurred slightly. Tundral's sonic wave had been stopped prematurely and Bok powered up his fist to hit him again with a hard punch, causing the android to glare menacingly at him.

"You damn brats, I will not be made a fool like this!" he screamed and began channeling energy. He created vibrations from his shoulders and they were so intense that they formed arms where his arms should've been and the twins could see the distortions in the air where his arms were and he stared at the two with a smile on his face.

"You didn't think I was going to let you get carried away while I was armless, were you?!" Tundral shouted and Gohan frowned. _Looks like I might have to step in again._

Uub stepped in and blocked 17's punches and he caught his arms, moving him over his shoulder to toss him down to the ocean and he gave Piccolo a reassuring smile.

"Thanks," he said and Uub stared down at 17.

"What happened to him?"

"That android detached his arms and they absorbed themselves into 17, changing him into what you see before you. If he's anything like I was when I was possessed, he'll have frightening tenacity and an overwhelming need to continue despite the damage you might inflict on him. What's worse, that thing will make use of his endless stamina to wear us out if we don't find a way to knock him out."

"We only need to keep them stalled for twenty more minutes until Pan and Bulla show up," Uub stated and Piccolo lifted an eyebrow.

"Why is that?"

"You'll see when they get here."

Piccolo had some sort of idea what Uub meant and the two waited for 17 to fly back up and he fired several blasts as he flew up to them, Uub deflecting them away from him and Piccolo and the two started brawling with him. 17's speed kept up with the two of them as he blocked their punches and kicks, rocking Piccolo with a heavy punch to the gut and he roundhouse kicked Uub before he could get punched again. Uub shook it off and he powered up to pick up speed and the two clashed around the area above the ocean, moving far faster than Piccolo could and he studied where the two were fighting.

 _Uub, are you able to hear my voice in your head?_ Piccolo asked telepathically.

 _Yes, I can hear you clearly._

 _Keep him occupied while I set up this attack, and make sure you don't allow him to throw up any barriers,_ Piccolo told him.

 _Understood,_ Uub said back.

 _If you're fast enough, you can avoid this at the last second before this attack hits you,_ Piccolo informed him.

Uub glanced behind him and wondered what Piccolo was alluding to, but he led the battle making 17 follow him. He attempted a punch to counter the motion so that it could damage him even more but 17 was still able to block them. Piccolo began firing several energy balls in the sky, a constant barrage of energy spheres that flew and stopped in place around 17 and Uub and he wanted to be sure there was absolutely nothing preventing the two from escaping.

17 stopped and noticed his surroundings and he smiled at Piccolo.

"This one remembers the last time you attempted this trick and it didn't work," he said but Uub grabbed him from behind, trapping his arms in a full nelson.

"But was he expecting someone else to be in there with him?" he told him and 17's eyes widened.

"Don't worry about me, Piccolo! I can handle the damage!" Uub said and Piccolo chuckled a bit.

"I know you can, Uub. Brace yourself!" he said and threw his hands together, the energy balls swirling and moving around them fast to collide against 17 and Uub, creating a series of explosions that Uub grunted and took on, powering up enough to resist the damage but 17 was screaming as he was continuously bombarded with energy balls until what had taken hold of him seeped out and flew off of him, returning to Tundral. When the attacks subsided, Uub released 17 and the android grunted, holding his head.

"That was pretty reckless, kid," he said and Uub smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I learned from the best," he said with a smile and 17 returned the smile, glancing at Piccolo.

"How badly are you hurt?" he asked him and 17 clenched a fist.

"I can still keep going, if that's what you're worried about."

The three nodded and flew over to Gohan as the arms rejoined Tundral, fighting off Bok and Choi as they were flying around him nimbly. His vibration arms were able to block a few hits but Choi was clearly able to use his unorthodox movements to throw him off. He stared wide-eyed as Piccolo, 17, and Uub joined Gohan and he found himself surrounded by six fighters now, glaring at them all.

"You're out of options, android. Get off this planet and go back to Freeza!" Gohan yelled and Tundral started smiling. He then began to laugh and this started to unsettle everyone but Choi, who kept grinning at him.

"Talk all you want, monkey," Tundral said, staring at Gohan. "But the one who gets the last laugh will be me after I've sent you all to oblivion!"

Gohan had his fists clenched, ready to power up again to get back into it and Tundral didn't take his eyes off of him.

"If you've known anything about us, Saiyan, it's that there's one thing you forgot to take into consideration," Tundral said and Gohan narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean? Wait, you don't mean?-"

"PRECISELY!" Tundral yelled and began screaming, the winds blowing everyone back a bit and his body began to increase in size, his muscles bulging outward a bit. His face and head started changing as his outer plating shifted and spikes grew out from his shoulders and forearms, two a piece and the head plating's horns curved a bit as its eyes began glowing crimson and a mouth guard covered his mouth. A strange blue gem emerged through the skull plating as Tundral transformed and this unnerved Gohan a bit.

"This is our true form, designed by father to resemble him in every ounce of his glory!" Tundral said in a deeper, more menacing voice, the dual voice from earlier no longer there and Gohan, Bok, and Piccolo reacted with panic, while Uub and 17 remained focused and Choi's smile faded. Gohan looked even more disturbed as he stared at the android.

Choi snickered a moment, then nodded to Bok. "Let's take this guy down, brother!"

Bok was momentarily stunned by Choi's confidence, but agreed. This android looked imposing and they didn't want to lose their advantage. Choi rushed to attack Tundral but he moved his hand in a sweeping motion to throw several energy blasts at him as he was flying and Choi was forced to defend himself by raising his hands to block them. Bok flew in for a punch to the face but Tundral caught his fist while he was staring at Choi and turned his head.

"You little gnats are bothersome. Die!" he screamed and punched Bok hard in the stomach, causing him to gasp heavily from the blow. He threw him to Choi who caught him in mid-air and he glared at Tundral.

Gohan, Piccolo, Uub and 17 began attacking Tundral and while Piccolo and 17 weren't connecting with enough power, Gohan did power up enough to force Tundral into a defensive posture and he blocked his punches. Uub hovered above Tundral and fired a Kamehameha blast that looked like it enveloped the android but the beam dissipated and Tundral was still floating below him, staring daggers at him. He fired energy beams from his eyes at Uub which were travelling considerably fast and Uub barely had time to dodge but his shoulder was clipped by the beam as it passed by and he grunted, wincing from the impact. Gohan engaged Tundral with fists and kicks and the android, now twice Gohan's size, blocked his blows and thrust his palm against Gohan's chest, following it up with an energy blast that pushed him back. Gohan threw the energy beam off and grunted at the level of force the android used and stared at him. Piccolo tried to get in on Tundral's blind spot but each of his attacks did nothing to damage him and he brought up two fingers for a Special Beam Cannon while 17 moved at high speeds to catch the android off-guard, distracting him long enough for Piccolo to fire.

Bok shook his head, coming to his senses and Choi let him go, allowing him to float beside him.

"Think you can give him a good blow with your enraged state?" Bok asked him and Choi was a bit stunned to hear that.

"Heh, I'm flattered you acknowledged my awesome power, brother, but I can't remember how I did it. I almost blacked out earlier in the gravity room."

"Great. I was hoping you'd find a way to control that power of yours," Bok mentioned and Choi chuckled.

"I can't imagine dad's got it under control either. But maybe I can get this trash heap to piss me off enough," he said and powered up even more in his Super Saiyan form, swiping his arms at Tundral to attack with arc beams that sliced through the air. Tundral destroyed the beams with one swift movement of his hand and he made a high speed movement to catch up to 17 and uppercut him in the stomach like he did with Bok, grabbing him by the hair and blasting him in the face with a powerful energy attack, sending him flying down. Gohan quickly flew down to catch 17 before he hit the ocean and the Earth android shook his head, pressing a hand against it while the imposing bulkier android barked a laugh.

"Are you okay?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah. Nothing we're attacking him with is even remotely causing a dent," he said and Gohan glared up at Tundral.

"Rest here, I'll take over," Gohan said and 17 gave him a trusting look before he flew down to the ground, examining the damage to the island and clenching a fist, staring back up at Tundral.

Gohan increased his power and threw a punch that Tundral caught, but he pushed back against it which caused the android to look back in surprise.

"You have more strength than you led on," Tundral stated and Gohan clenched his fists. His power continued to rise but Tundral powered up himself as well. It was just enough of a distraction for Piccolo to fire his Special Beam Cannon at Tundral, who eyed it in his peripheral vision and went to swipe at it, but the beam suddenly changed direction by moving at a 80 degree angle, turning again and moving to strike Tundral in the back of the head, surprising him. Gohan screamed and he flew in to get in several hard hits on Tundral, which was enraging him.

"Don't get cocky you stupid monkey!" Tundral screamed and unleashed a harsh sonic wave from his whole body again, the omni-directional distortion projecting itself all around him that rocked everyone back and they covered their ears. Piccolo screamed even louder as it was having a more profound effect and Gohan had one eye closed, the other observing Tundral's sonic wave but he knew that this was at a more intense frequency than before.

It seemed to have only been done once as Tundral was flying straight for Gohan, focusing his attacks on the hybrid Saiyan. Still feeling disoriented from the sonic attack, Gohan was hit hard from a punch and Piccolo shook his head, getting his vision to stop spinning. He had a panicked look as Gohan took a few heavy blows and he fired several energy blasts at Tundral to draw him away, but all they did was explode and conjure up smoke, lacking the power it needed to have an impact and he glared with his teeth bared.

"Damn you. Not having Goku, Vegeta, or Broly around is making this difficult," he said and noticed Uub had kept his distance, observing the fight.

"Thank goodness I was out of the range of that last attack or I'd be in as bad a shape as you guys," he said, flying to the Namekian's side.

"So there is a limit to the range of this bastard's sonic attacks," Piccolo noted and Uub nodded.

"Whatever advantage that gives us, we'll take it. But considering how powerful this guy is taking our attacks, I don't know how high I'd need to go with Kaioken to even make an impact."

"Best to give Gohan support and use your stamina wisely. You don't want to wreck your body with the Kaioken attack like Goku sometimes does," Piccolo advised him and Uub nodded.

"I won't let Master Goku down," Uub said and flew down to start his attack on Tundral.

"More insects to swat down," Tundral said as he spotted Uub and Uub focused his power.

"Kaioken times five!" Uub yelled and a bright red aura flared around him and he used that power to give him a remarkable burst of speed and managed to connect a hit on Tundral with a counter punch as the large android was swinging with a right hook. The hit sent Tundral flying back and Uub felt the pressure of the technique weigh down on him so he knew he had to make this quick and he flew around to kick Tundral from behind, using his instantaneous movement to teleport back in front of Tundral as he was sent flying back forward and Uub cupped his hands together, building up energy for a Kamehameha blast that he fired at Tundral, who cried out in panic as the beam hit him directly.

"Alright!" Gohan cried out, flying over to Uub. Bok and Choi watched the intense action closely and Choi stared at Uub for a moment.

"He really is a remarkable fighter, brother. I'm happy he gave us both a worthy challenge," Bok said and Choi waved his hand, smirking.

"He still didn't win though."

"Neither did you," Bok reiterated and Choi coughed, crossing his arms.

"Uub's holding his own remarkably well. If we all keep this up we can defeat this monster," Bok added, but that was short lived when Tundral flew out from the smoke the explosion of energy caused and Uub had to quickly block several punches with his current Kaioken state. Uub began to wince from the aftereffects and Tundral was starting to build up more speed in his attacks.

"He can't last much longer like that," Gohan whispered and powered up again to join in and he scored a hit on Tundral, punching him in the face. Uub dropped out from his Kaioken state and Gohan caught him before he could fall from the sky.

"I got you," he said, holding him up and Uub nodded. Gohan let him go and they prepared themselves for Tundral's next attack.

Staring at the two, he narrowed his eyes and the gem on his forehead began to collect energy, converging it to a single point at the tip of it and both Gohan and Uub panicked as they shifted to their defensive stances as quickly as they could to try and take as much of the damage from this next attack.

The beam that Tundral fired shot out in one powerful burst like a canon, causing Uub and Gohan to stare wide-eyed as it looked like a solid pillar of energy that exploded all at once, giving neither of them time to escape and it struck them, pushing them both down to the ocean.

"Gohan! Uub!" Piccolo cried out and Tundral shifted his gaze at him. Aiming with the gem on his head, he fired off another one of those powerful pillars of energy and it blew Piccolo away to the sky. 17 watched on the ground and flew up to catch Gohan and Uub before they landed in the water and brought them to the ground.

"Look at you all drop like flies!" Tundral laughed and he focused yet another attack from his gem, aiming it down at the trio that were on the ground. Gohan and Uub came to after temporarily losing consciousness from that attack and they gawked in panic as Tundral fired again. 17 quickly threw up a barrier to block the attack and it exploded, shattering it. 17 let out a yell and threw out several layers of barriers in front of them and Tundral clenched his fists.

"It doesn't matter how many of those you set up, I'll knock them all down!" he bellowed and started gathering up energy in his gem to fire another pillar of energy down at the barriers. Just as he was about to fire, Choi managed to get in an arc blade right on the point of where the energy was about to be unleashed, using a boost of power he shared with his brother to generate a large impact and the collision caused a huge explosion right in Tundral's face.

"Don't you dare ignore me, you overworked toaster," Choi said, glaring at him and after the smoke cleared, Tundral was holding his face, wincing a bit. He clenched his fists and roared, turning his sights on Choi.  
"You'll pay for that you insipid brat!" Tundral screamed at the Super Saiyan and focused another energy beam and Bok flew up in front of Choi before Tundral fired it.

"Bok! What are you doing?!" Choi yelled and Bok stretched out his arms, screaming as he raised his power to its limit and he clenched his fists.

"Let's see him try and take on my perfect defense!" Bok hoped this was going to be enough as he tightened his whole body and made himself float like a steady boulder floating in the air.

"Bok, don't be stupid, this isn't the time for that!" Choi said, concern in his voice now. Bok grinned at Tundral.

The beam shot out from the gem and Bok's stance took the full force of it and he grunted as it was considerably more powerful than any attack he had ever felt before and he screamed as it was cutting into him. When the attack finished, he was left with cuts and scrapes all over his body, his pants torn up making it look like a pair of ripped up shorts with some areas of his body smoking as he shook uncontrollably, his breathing heavy and labored.

"Bok," Choi muttered and Bok stared at the android with that same grin but he faded out of consciousness and fell down.

"Bok!" Choi cried out and Bok's body fell down to the ground below, landing near a beach like area of the island and Choi gaped as his brother was no longer moving. He shook his fists and glared at Tundral.

"You…you killed him…" Choi said and Gohan's eyes widened, stretching out with his energy to sense Bok's and he breathed a sigh of relief, still being able to sense something from Bok but it was greatly weakened from the attack, which meant that Bok was still alive yet Choi wasn't made aware of it for now.

Choi began shaking in anger and he screamed, his muscles bulging out to twice their size and his hair shifting to a lime green color and Gohan's eyes widened.

"He's going berserk again, just like he did against Pan!" he cried and Uub couldn't believe it himself. He saw it for himself the form Choi was taking when he lost control of his temper against Pan and his power soared in front of Tundral and he turned to Gohan.

"I'll bring Bok over here," he said and sprinted around the island to retrieve Bok's unconscious form. 17 still felt the need to maintain his layers of barriers as Uub hoisted Bok onto his shoulder, running back to Gohan.

"What is this kid doing?" Tundral asked, puzzled and Choi's pupils had disappeared yet he was still able to see in front of him. Tundral didn't bother to wait on what this was and prepared another blast from his forehead gem but Choi was quick to respond and he flew in to strike Tundral in the gem with a hard fist. That caused the gem to crack several times and Tundral screamed from the impact, holding his forehead with a hand.

"Damn you!" Tundral screamed and both he and Choi started exchanging blows, floating across the sky as their powers collided, the energy from their strikes shooting out from each blow as they moved around the field.

When Uub laid Bok back down, he checked his pulse and saw that his breathing was slow and faint.

"Thank goodness he's still alive," Uub said, staring at the two above him. Then he remembered that Piccolo had been attacked earlier and put two fingers to his forehead.

"C'mon, Piccolo, please still be alive," Uub said, closing his eyes and Gohan closed his eyes as well, trying to sense Piccolo's energy signature and he put his hand on Uub's shoulder.

"I'll lend you a hand," Gohan said and poured some of his energy into Uub to help him focus more and Uub flinched, nodding as Gohan lifted his hand off.

"Got it," he said and teleported away. Gohan waited a moment, staring up at Choi as he was doing remarkably well against Tundral and he connected with a few shots that were doing some damage to him but Tundral was equally aggressive, responding with haymakers that almost knocked Choi out of the sky. But the berserker screamed and roared as he took on a few hits flying to Tundral to pound away at his upper body. Despite the size difference, Choi's current power made it look like he was as powerful as Broly and he fired several arc blasts from his arms that struck Tundral and he grunted from the impact. He returned fire with several blasts from his fingers and Choi took them, each blow staggering him back.

Uub reappeared with an unconscious Piccolo who had a bad gash along his head.

"I found him on top of several rocks. Looks like his head struck one of them," he said and Gohan put his hand on Piccolo's head.

"He's bleeding out. If we don't give him a senzu bean or get him to Dende quickly, he'll die," he said and Uub nodded. He put two fingers to his forehead to search for Dende's energy but his eyes widened when he sensed other energy signatures appear.

"That's-" Gohan felt it as well.

"Pan and Bulla are out of the Chamber!" Uub said, grinning. He glanced at 17.

"Help is on the way! Keep up that barrier!" Gohan shouted and 17 nodded. "Understood."

Up on the lookout, the door to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber had opened and two blurs sped out from inside. Pan and Bulla didn't waste time and flew down from way high up, making their way directly to Uub and Gohan's group.


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29 – "An unprecedented reversal of fortune! The gods fall."**

 **Bursting from the lookout…**

When the door opened to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Pan and Bulla could sense the world outside again. Pan picked up on several energy fluctuations at once and Bulla caught on a split second afterwards.

"Let's go!" Bulla said and they both powered up, flying straight out the door and off the lookout. Trunks and Goten wanted them to wait first but the girls were long gone before they even reached the middle of the lookout's main area.

"Good luck you two," Goten said and Trunks walked over to the edge, closing his eyes. They widened when he could sense Choi's incredible power and began looking around for the rest of the fighters and frowned.

"Whatever they're fighting down there, I hope Bulla and Pan can pull it off or at least give them a hand," he said. When he walked back to Goten, Dende and Mr. Popo were there with him.

"I'll stand by in case they need anyone healed," the god of the earth told them and Goten nodded with a smile, turning to Trunks.

"Do you want another shot at that android, Trunks?" Goten asked and Trunks looked like he wasn't all that interested in the fight to say anything. He put his hands in his pockets and began walking around the lookout. Goten wanted to say something but nothing came to mind, rubbing the back of his head. He glanced over at Dende and Popo.

"He's had a rough time this year," he told them and Dende chuckled a bit.

"Some years can be more difficult than others, but there's always the opportunity to bounce back from what brings you down. You just need to keep an open mind and have faith that things will get better," the god told him and Goten nodded.

"Fusion training went well?" Popo asked him and Goten grinned. He flashed him a thumbs up and the two were glad to see Goten's enthusiastic reaction.

Pan powered up to increase her speed and Bulla joined her in her Super Saiyan state as they made it to Gohan's group within seconds and they landed on the ground. Bulla gasped as she saw Bok's unconscious body and powered back down to her base form, running to join them. Gohan and Pan's eyes met and he nodded. Pan took a look at the senzu beans in her bag, counting them all. She gave one to Gohan, then split one in half for herself and Bulla to replenish their stamina and Gohan split the bean in two, giving one half to Uub while the other he placed in Bok's mouth but he wasn't chewing it down. Bulla tightened her mouth and put her hair up with an elastic, reaching down to take the bean and put it in her mouth.

"Bulla, what are you doing?" Pan asked and Bulla broke it down in her mouth. She knelt down and fed it to Bok through mouth transfer and it did the trick as Bok was able to swallow it now and he came to, opening his eyes.

"Bulla?" he said and she smiled down at him, but not before smacking him on the back of the head. Bok gritted his teeth as he held his head and Bulla scowled at him.

"You idiot! Why did you go and get yourself damaged that much? Is your life really not that important?!" she yelled, standing up. Bok rubbed the side of his head and she held out a hand to help him back to his feet. She then wrapped her arms around him and he looked down at her, confused.

"I don't understand what's going on here," he said and both Gohan and Uub chuckled a bit. Pan walked over to Uub and spotted Choi and Tundral continue their fierce fight and she wore a determined face. She untied the bag from her belt and handed it over to Gohan, who took a senzu bean out from inside to give it to Piccolo.

"Dad?" Pan said and Gohan stopped a moment.

"Are you sure you're okay with Bulla and I fighting that android?"

"What's this all of a sudden?" Gohan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I mean, you're the strongest one other than Grandpa and Vegeta. I'm wondering if you're holding back on him for our sake."

She was glad Bok didn't hear her exclude Broly but Gohan chuckled a bit and put a hand on her head.

"If I knew there were no other options, your dad would've fought with all his strength against him. This is our planet to protect and we defend it together. But if you believe that you and Bulla have the strength to take him down, then do it. We've damaged him quite a bit so far so I have no doubt now we have all that we need to destroy him."

Bulla and Bok made their way to them and Gohan clenched a fist in front of them, smiling. "If you two want to fight him that badly, then I won't hold you back. Just be careful and don't fight recklessly. Stand down if you feel the fight will be too much for the both of you."

"We'll be careful, dad. Ready Bulla?"

"You betcha," Bulla said and the girls took their position. Gohan walked over to Piccolo and he was still in and out of it, slipping out of consciousness occasionally but he recognized the senzu bean when he saw it and ate it when Gohan put it in his mouth. He wiped some of the dried blood from the side of his head and stared up at Choi and Tundral, gritting his teeth.

"He's a freak," he said. 17 noticed that those around him were back on their feet and he let go of his barriers, turning to face them.

"Who're they?" he asked.

"That's my daughter, Pan and her friend Bulla, daughter of Bulma and Vegeta," Gohan said and the android nodded.

Uub rushed over to Pan for a moment.

"Was your training successful?" he asked and the girls both smiled at each other.

"Of course! We're taking this android down," Bulla said and Bok's eyes widened.

"Wait, what?" he asked and the girls took up a position a couple meters apart, staring at each other. Uub cleared the way for the girls to perform the fusion dance and Bok raised his hand in protest.

"But Choi's still up there fighting that android," he added and Pan smirked.

"He can take it easy now that we're here. Let's do this, Bulla." she turned to her friend.

"Right."

They raised their arms just as they had practiced countless times for the short amount of time they spent in the chamber and they powered up to sync their energy.

"Fuuuuu," the two began, moving in perfect unison as they started the movements for the fusion dance and all eyes were on them now.

"Sion!" they cried, mimicking the second part with ease, then they moved their arms towards each other, fingers touching exactly where they should and they both cried "Ha!"

A bright flash of light, bright enough to draw Tundral's attention, illuminated the island below and he had to block more punches from Choi until he grabbed him by the neck.

"You've done enough, you meddlesome brat," he said, his eyes narrowing. Choi growled and squirmed, flailing his legs to try and kick Tundral but the android's arm length kept him at a distance. He let him go and Choi went in for a heavy punch but was hit in the gut with a hard kick from Tundral.

"You're no longer fun to play with. Go take a time out and drink your mommy's milk," he told the boy and fired a huge energy blast that knocked Choi away and into the island below, and Bok reacted with horror on his face.

"Choi!" he screamed but Gohan held him back with a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait!"

Bok glared back at him and Gohan shook his head.

"Wait for an opening," he told him and Bok could see that the light was fading and the fused form of Bulla and Pan could be seen from their silhouette and those who could sense energy gawked at her. Gohan was especially surprised to sense that their fusion had a greater deal of power than Gotenks and a grin formed on his face. _Those two have been training non stop for months, it only makes sense that they have this much power._

Bulpan stood with her arms on her hips, dressed in the same clothing as a fused warrior would wear but had an additional black crop top under her black vest with yellow trimmings. Her hair was a shoulder-length mix of turquoise with black tips and she took a deep breath, hands on her hips.

"Ah, it feels good to breathe some good air again," she said in her dual voice. She took to the air and stared at Tundral with a frown on her face and made a high speed burst to meet the android face to face. Tundral studied her carefully and was a bit confused.

"Haven't I seen something like this before?" he asked and then he started laughing.

"Of course! The last one that had clothing like that was obliterated before I transformed! What makes you think you'll do any better?"

"Because I will," she said from behind him and his eyes widened. He could see Bulpan directly in front of him but glanced to see another copy of her right behind him.

"When did she? I couldn't even see her use Pan's split form technique!" Bok shouted.

Tundral went for a swipe from his arm to attack the copy behind him and it disappeared.

"An afterimage?" Gohan queried and Bulpan grinned as she kicked Tundral hard in the stomach, winding him and he went for a heavy punch that she dodged and returned with an uppercut to his jaw, followed by a roundhouse kick to send him crashing into a plateau on an island below. She cracked her knuckles and waited for him to burst from the rubble and he screamed as he flew up to her. He started throwing punches that were dodged and blocked, Bulpan hitting him back with another carefully placed kick to his stomach, with a few more punches that connected with his head and chest and he was rocked back from each impact. Growling, he fired off an omni-directional sonic wave and Bulpan's eyes widened a bit.

"Pan! Bulla! Get out of the range of his sonic attack!" Gohan yelled up at them and Bulpan grinned.

"Sonic, eh? How's this for sonic?" she said and took a deep breath. She unfurled a screech from her mouth so intense that it was even larger than Tundral's sonic wave and it blew through it and through him. Everyone covered their ears as she screamed and Piccolo fell to one knee, crying out in even more pain.

Tundral withstood and howled as the distortion tore into him and he powered up. He fired off a huge energy ball at Bulpan, putting a stop to her screeching. She put her hands up to stop the ball and Tundral fired several more energy blasts to increase its size to the point it ruptured and exploded, the energy enveloping Bulpan and Uub, and Bok stared on in horror. Gohan swallowed, frowning up at Tundral.

"No!" Bok shouted. Piccolo shook his head to recover his senses and he stood up, growling at the destruction. He hoped that this wasn't the worst case scenario and he waited for the smoke to clear. Bok's senses picked up on Choi's energy and he glanced over in the direction of the source.

"I can sense Choi's energy!" he said and took off towards him, figuring this was a good opportunity to go and bring his brother back to the group.

When the smoke cleared, Tundral glared at Bulpan as she stretched her arms out, playfully putting them behind her back and she grinned at him.

"That was fun but I think I might have a sore throat after that for a while," she said, moving her bottom jaw around, rubbing it with her hand. Tundral growled and clenched his hands, firing off several energy blasts at Bulpan that collided against her and she still stood there floating in the air after the smoke cleared, staring at him with a serious expression.

"Why you!" Tundral barked and Bulpan flew up slowly towards him.

"You seem to be in a pickle Mr. android. And I haven't even transformed yet," she told him and Tundral's eyes widened.

"What?!"

Chuckling a bit, Bulpan yelled as she powered up into her Super Saiyan state and brought her hands forward, conjuring up a large sized blue sphere of energy.

"Ultra Big Bang Attack!" she screamed and fired it at Tundral, who screamed from the impact. The energy output from the explosion cascaded down towards everyone else and everyone but Gohan had to shield their faces from the blowing winds. _That's it, you've got him. Now it's time to finish the job._

When the smoke cleared, Tundral had his arms in front of him to protect himself from the attack and Bulpan rubbed her nose, chuckling a bit.

"There's more where that came from," she said and Gohan frowned.

"Bulla! Pan! Don't play around anymore! Finish him off now!" Gohan shouted and Bulpan glanced down.

"It's Bulpan! Call us Bulpan!" she shouted back down at him and Gohan had to correct himself.

"Bulpan! You can't drag this on for too long or you'll use up your fusion time! Finish him now before it's too late!"

"Yeah yeah, we know, we know," Bulpan waved at him and she shrugged her shoulders at Tundral, who looked heavily damaged from her attack and he clenched his fists so tightly his nails were digging in, cutting into the skin to draw out a silvery-looking liquid.

"Uncle Freeza gave us orders to destroy the Dragonballs. What better way to destroy them than by destroying the very planet they're on!" He shouted and raised his hands up in the air, channeling a great deal of power to conjure up a huge sphere of energy and everyone gasped.

"Just like Freeza," Gohan muttered and the whole area began to shake around him. He wanted to go and finish the job himself but had a hint of optimism when he stared up at Bulpan, who cleaned out her right ear with her pinky finger and looked bored watching Tundral set up his attack.

Bok flew as fast as he could to search for Choi in the rubble and he found him after tossing a few large rocks aside. Choi was back in his base form and unconscious, his body damaged from Tundral's attacks and he draped him onto his shoulder to fly him back to the group and he watched in horror as Tundral's large sphere was growing even bigger.

"Enjoy your new lives in hell, you maggots!" Tundral screamed as he was about to fire his huge death ball and Bulpan powered up, her golden aura flaring around her. She stretched out her arms wide and began growling as she charged up energy in her hands.

"That's Vegeta's Final Flash!" Gohan shouted and Uub shot him a glance, focusing back on Bulpan. But he noticed something was different about the way she was building up the attack and he watched her bring her hands together slowly, closing her eyes to focus her power. She clasped her fingers together except for both indexes and she brought them up to her forehead, focusing the rest of the energy to the fingertips.

"What is she trying to do?" Gohan asked and Piccolo wondered if this might resemble the Special Beam Canon and he gasped once he realized that this energy was going to be pretty devastating once it collides and explodes.

"Everyone take cover!" he shouted and Gohan and Uub nodded.

Everyone flew off to a thicket of trees and rocks as Bok watched them move there and he took Choi to meet up with them. He glanced one last time at Bulpan and tightened his lips.

Bulpan brought her fingers forward and readied her attack as Tundral launched his huge death ball down at her, laughing. Bulpan aimed her hands at the center of the death ball and narrowed her eyes.

"FINAL CANON!" Bulpan shouted and a huge pillar of energy with a secondary thinner beam swirling around it shot up to the death ball and pushed it back to Tundral. She braced herself for the attack's recoil as she was pushed back a bit from firing the energy blast and she stared intensely at Tundral with gritted teeth.

"WHAT?!" he screamed and both the death ball and Bulpan's Final Canon attack enveloped him and he howled as the energy devastated his body. She kept a close watch on the destruction and the ensuing explosion caused her to shield her face with her arms and the energy was having a significant impact on the earth below. Gohan covered Bok and Choi as Uub covered Piccolo, while 17 threw up an emergency barrier just in case it was needed and the ground shook violently around them.

A few seconds went by and Bulpan frowned as Tundral emerged from the smoke when the energy subsided but his whole body was mangled and charred. A light engulfed him and it split him back into Tundra and Glacial, the two separate androids staring at her, breathing heavily before they fell to the ocean, sinking into the water. Bulpan stared down at the two and when they vanished underneath the surface of the water, she powered down to her base form and flew down to meet up with Gohan's group.

Uub was the first to greet her. "Bulpan! Th-That was amazing! I can't believe how powerful your fusion is!"

"Hey, you all roughed him up for us, so take credit for that at least," Bulpan said and Uub blushed when she glanced at him with a smile on her face. He could still make out Pan's features but Bulla's higher cheekbones gave Bulpan a different definition to her face as she brushed her hair back.

After Bok fed Choi a senzu bean, he saw that the bag was empty. "We went through the rest of the bag rather quickly," he said, tossing it to the ground.

"Well, we did need a few while we were testing out our abilities," Bulpan said, making note of the hours spent testing out what worked. They only had enough time to test it out a couple of times, eating senzu beans to recover their stamina and they saved the rest for when it was needed. After thirty minutes passed, the fusion ended and both Bulla and Pan emerged and they both smiled at each other with a thumbs up.

Bok walked up to Bulla and he held his hand up for a high-five and Bulla slapped his open palm, grinning. "Now you've got me wondering if Choi and I should learn that too," he said and Choi cleared his throat.

"We fight better separately, Bok. Don't get any stupid ideas like fusion in your head," he told him and Piccolo approached Pan.

"I guess learning the Special Beam Canon proved useful after all," he told her and Pan bowed at him and at Gohan.

"Thank you, Piccolo! Thank you, dad!" she said, tearing up and Gohan ruffled his daughter's hair.

"I'm really proud of you, Pan. Let's make sure your mom knows you're okay too," he told her and she ran to jump up into his arms, wrapping hers around him in an embrace.

"I love you, daddy," she said and Gohan chuckled, holding her tightly against him.

Then it happened.

It was so sudden no one had time to react as two thin beams pierced both Pan and Gohan through their upper body, causing them to gasp in shock. The force sent Pan crashing forward on top of Gohan and they fell to the ground.

"PAN!" Uub shouted and he ran to the two of them. Piccolo gaped in horror as he turned to see both Tundra and Glacial standing there, water dripping from their charred bodies and their breathing looked heavy. Glacial began laughing maniacally as Bulla screamed with tears in her eyes and powered up directly to her Super Saiyan 2 form, surprising both Bok and Choi and she positioned herself as she flew towards her to fire a Galick Gun and she vaporized the android completely as she was still laughing. Piccolo finished off Tundra with a Masenko beam and Uub moved Pan off of Gohan.

"U-Uub…where did it hit her?" Gohan grunted as he tried to sit up. Two holes were on his chest but he was fortunate that they both avoided vital organs. Pan wasn't as fortunate as there was one hole in the middle of her chest and another where her heart was located and Uub gasped.

"Give me a senzu, quickly!" he cried, tears forming in his eyes and Bok looked back in horror.

"We…used up the last of them," he said and Uub stared back, despondent.

"No, no, no! Not like this…" he whispered and put two fingers to his forehead, sensing Dende's energy and he teleported Pan with him to the lookout.

When he appeared, he frantically ran towards him. "DENDE!"

Holding Pan tightly against him, he almost tripped and fell and quickly knelt down on his knees to place Pan on the ground in front of him and Dende quickly rushed to them. Goten and Trunks were shocked to see Uub appear and Goten gasped when he saw his niece's unconscious form being carried in his arms, panic on Uub's face.

Dende quickly placed his hands on Pan's body and channeled his power, showering her with a warm golden glow as his power closed the holes in Pan's body and healing the rupture to her heart and lungs. When he finished, Uub felt a great deal of relief wash over him as Pan's eyes no longer looked glazed over and she blinked, staring up at Uub.

"Uub?" she said quietly and Uub wrapped her tightly in an embrace, sobbing against her face.

"Thank goodness. Thank goodness I made it in time," he said through sobs and Pan closed her eyes, putting her hands on his arms and wrapping her own arms around him. They stayed like this for a while as Dende breathed a sigh of relief, standing up and both Goten and Trunks looked relieved as well.

After the androids were finished for good, Bulla still stood in her Super Saiyan 2 form and she clenched her fists but was struggling to contain her emotions. Bok approached her cautiously.

"Bulla?"

"I couldn't sense them. I didn't know. I didn't know…" she whispered, falling to her knees. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed as Piccolo helped Gohan to his feet.

"Did Uub make it in time?" Piccolo asked and Gohan closed his eyes.

"He's up there with Dende. Please be on time," Gohan whispered and closed his eyes to focus on the lookout, despite struggling against the pain in his upper chest.

A few seconds passed and Gohan's mouth curved in a smile, opening his eyes.

"He did it," he said and Piccolo sighed in relief. Gohan felt like he could stand up and nodded to him.

"I'll be fine, I can still stand and fly," he said and walked over to Bulla, who was still bawling on the ground, gripping clumps of dirt in her fists and he knelt down to put a hand on her back.

"It's okay, Pan's back. Uub got her to Dende in time," he said and Bulla quickly looked at him, sniffling.

"Are you sure?"

"You can sense her energy for yourself," he said, smiling down at her and Bulla's eyes lit up, gasping. She blinked back more tears as a grin appeared on her face and she laughed a bit.

"Gohan, please keep this from Pan, I don't want her to think I'm as big a crybaby as she is," Bulla said, chuckling a bit as she stood back up and she wiped her face. Glancing at Bok and Choi, she took a deep breath.

"Excuse me a moment," she said and walked over to Bok. Taking his face in her hands, she kissed him on the lips and Choi's eyes widened in surprise. Bok stood there for a moment, completely dumbfounded and she parted her lips from his, walking away.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Bok asked out loud and Choi stood beside him.

"Is that that girl thing mom talks about sometimes?" Choi wondered and Bok shook his head. He shrugged and glanced behind him at Bulla, who gave him a look that made him blush a bit and she approached android 17.

"I'm sorry for what happened here. I know where the Dragonballs are and we can ask Shenron to fix the damage."

"Thank you for the offer but I'll decline. Save those for something more important," he said and Bulla nodded.

"The animals here are quite resilient and will hide when they sense danger. They still have a place to call home, no matter how roughed up." He still had on a confident face but Bulla knew that this was difficult for him to take in and he took to the air to survey the damage. Bulla grinned, brushing her hair back. She tied it up and ran back to the group.

"I'm going to meet Pan and Uub," she said and Piccolo nodded.

"We'll join you. Gohan could use Dende's healing as well," he said and Gohan nodded. Bulla turned to Bok and Choi.

"You're welcome to join us, Bok," she said while ignoring Choi and the twins looked at each other a moment.

"Mom's probably worried sick about us," Bok told her.

"And Uncle Lemo's probably making dinner by now, even though he takes forever to do it. But I'll be glad to eat something at least," said Choi and Bok and Bulla looked at each other for a moment before she waved at him.

"I'll see you around," she told him and they all flew to the air. Choi stared out into the ocean.

"Hey, Choi?" Bok started but Choi waved him off.

"I'm fine, if you're wondering."

"You're not upset that you couldn't beat that android?" Bok wondered.

"I couldn't care less about some garbage robot. He wasn't much of a challenge. The one I really want to defeat is Uub. I owe him from the Tournament and I mean to knock him down."

Bok frowned and took to the air, flying back to Metro West. "Hurry up or I'm leaving you behind!"

"Hey!" Choi shouted and he quickly caught up to him as the boys returned to Capsule Corporation.

 **Evolution…**

Golden Freeza flew around firing consecutive energy blasts that rocked the landscape as Goku dodged them at the last moment. He moved around in bursts of speed to get in on Freeza but he too was moving around just as fast. The two clashed and they were throwing rapid punches at one another, flying around the planet.

Broly was staring to gain the upper hand on Cooler after their battle heated up and the ice-demon started feeling it, glaring at Broly. He took a double-axe punch that sent him crashing into the ground. Bursting from the rubble, he stood up and stared at the Saiyan.

"So the rumors about you being the Saiyan of Legend were more than just conjecture," he said, dusting himself off. Powering up again, he flew up to Broly and the two continued their brawl. Broly took a punch to the gut but returned one of his own and they were both hitting each other with heavy punches and kicks. Broly sent Cooler back with another mouth blast that streamed like a jet of fire and Cooler put his hands up to block most of it, even though it was putting a great deal of pressure on him to resist it.

Broly howled again as his power grew even more, his muscles growing slightly bigger and he took a few more hits from Cooler as he flew back to him and Cooler had to start using his speed to get around him. He fired a barrage of energy beams from his eyes around Broly, who took the hits and he dived down to strike him hard in the face. Broly then grabbed Cooler's arm and threw him to the ground, stomping on his head with his foot afterwards.

"GET OFF ME!" Cooler yelled and channeled energy into a large ball that he fired up at Broly, hitting him squarely in the face. Broly staggered off of him and Cooler made a high speed burst to hit the Saiyan with hard punches to the face and gut, moving rapidly. Broly went for a haymaker but Cooler used his speed to avoid it, countering Broly with another punch to the face.

"More, more, entertain me more, you loathsome gorilla!" Cooler yelled and he stared laying more punches and kicks to Broly, yet the Saiyan started blocking them again and he grabbed Cooler by the mid-section, running with him to plow him against a cliff face. But Broly didn't stop, he continued driving him through the plateau entirely until they emerged from the other side and Cooler winced and felt winded from the experience. He drove an elbow down on Broly's head but he was tossed up in the air. Broly grabbed him by the legs and slammed him down on his back. Cooler stared up at Broly wide-eyed and twisted his body around to stand up and he drove a kick to Broly's face, wrapping his tail around the Saiyan's neck. He squeezed it tightly around him and aimed a finger beam at Broly.

"Die, Saiyan!" He said and fired his beam down but Broly brought up a hand to block it.

"What?!"

Broly screamed again and he overpowered Cooler's grip, forcing him to release it and Cooler clenched his fists.

"I will not be driven like this. I don't care if Freeza and that other monkey scum are still on this dustball! I have no need for this planet anymore!"

He flew up to the air and from his hand, he conjured a large sphere of orange energy rather quickly and he threw it down at Broly.

"Suffer Namek's fate for all eternity!" Cooler cried and Broly clenched his fists. Building up energy in his chest, a green sphere appeared and he fired it up at Cooler's death ball as it was careening down towards him and the planet. When the spheres struck, Broly's was gradually pushing it back and the green sphere started growing in size, absorbing the other one inside it and Cooler's eyes widened.

"No!" Cooler howled and fired more energy blasts, combining them with a larger energy beam that he fired down at Broly's sphere but they were all being pushed back up towards him. Cooler had no choice but to let it fly past him as he ducked out of the way and Broly's power overwhelmed the area, causing Cooler to actually feel nervous now.

Freeza paused to glance over at their battle and grinned. He spotted Goku flying up to him and blocked a few incoming punches, which forced Goku back when he had to block Freeza's counterpunches.

"I'd say the fight between Broly and my dear brother are making quite a dent on this new Namekian planet, wouldn't you agree?" he said, putting his hands behind his back. Goku stopped and began sensing Broly and Cooler's powers. He then grinned up at Freeza which cased him to raise an eyebrow.

"Doesn't look like that brother of yours is doing so well," he told him and Freeza simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, it is what it is, I suppose."  
Goku wondered what Freeza was so confident about but decided to continue their fight. Freeza fired off a homing death beam from his finger and it forced Goku to fly away from him before it struck him directly and Freeza directed the energy beam around to keep up with Goku. He grinned and set up a purple disc from his hand and waited for Goku to fly down to him, wondering if the Saiyan was going to use the same strategy from way back in their first fight on old Namek.

Goku detected the disc in Freeza's hand and he fired a blast down at him. He put two fingers to his forehead and teleported behind Freeza.

"Gotcha!" Freeza yelled and turned around to a stunned Goku, throwing the disk at him. But it hit an afterimage and Goku had appeared elsewhere, smacking the death beam away. Freeza redirected the disc with his hand, smiling at Goku and it started chasing him around the field.

"You know this strategy won't work, Freeza! It failed the first time and you got cut in half, remember?" Goku yelled and Freeza laughed.

"Of course I remember! I never forget every single humiliation suffered at your hand!" he said and made two more energy discs that he threw at Goku, causing the three of them to follow him around. Goku frowned and used openings to attack Freeza with energy attacks to distract him but Freeza was aware of them now and destroyed the blasts as they came towards him. He brought the discs together to converge on Goku and he had to fly up out of the way as they passed each other yet they stayed on him.

Goku grunted as the discs were catching up to him and he screamed "Kaioken!", the red aura superimposing itself on his blue aura and he shouted, the pulse from his aura destroying the discs and he flew at rapid bursts to get down to Freeza, who frowned and matched it as well, powering up with a purple aura around him. The two clashed and clashed again, Freeza keeping up with Goku's added power from the Kaioken and Goku stopped.

"Times ten!" he shouted and the aura grew bigger. He thrust his hands forward and they caught Freeza in a binding technique and Freeza's eyes widened.

"What?! What is this?!"

Goku chuckled. "You're not the only one who can trap people."

Freeza growled and glared at him and Goku held him in place.

"I won't let you kill any more people on this planet, Freeza! Take you brother and get the hell out of here!"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Freeza bellowed and his scream dissipated Goku's binding technique and he flew up to hit him in the gut with a knee, staggering him back a bit. Freeza wrapped his tail around Goku's neck and he brought his face closer to his.

"You'd have been better off staying home, Goku," Freeza told him but Goku grunted, grabbing his tail.

"I can't let you have the Dragonballs, ever!" he growled as he pushed the tail off him and Freeza released his grip. Sighing, he took a few steps back, allowing Goku a bit of breathing room. He rubbed his stomach and neck a bit and felt the Kaioken wear down on him so he let it go for now.

"Did you honestly think all of this was about the Dragonballs?" Freeza asked him and Goku looked back, confused. He turned his back on him, not caring that he was making himself open and he stood there with his hands behind his back.

"That's why you're here with your brother, aren't you?"

"The offer was initially tempting. Asking the Dragon for a ship to travel to each universe so I could capture a planet and sell it to the species of that universe. But I couldn't allow my brother to make a wish for himself, probably immortality or something ridiculous. It was a hasty decision, you see."

Goku eyed him carefully. _He's hiding something else, but what is it?_

Freeza turned around to face him, his expression more serious now. "I'll give you one more opportunity, Goku. Show me your Ultra Instinct technique. I want nothing more than to test that god-defying power for myself!"

Goku's eyes widened. "Is that why you lured me here?!"

Freeza grinned in response. "Partially."

Goku paused for a moment, then he grinned. "Fine, if you're really that interested in seeing Ultra Instinct."

Goku closed his eyes, focusing his power. He started diving deep into his memories of the time he trained to unlock the ability to tap into the form at will. He continued to focus his power but something was blocking him and he opened his eyes, confused.

"Hm? Are we having performance anxiety?" Freeza chuckled and Goku looked down at his hands.

"Something's wrong."

Freeza grinned. "Well that's too bad, isn't it? Did you forget how you did it after so long?"

"That's not it! I know how to tap into it but my body…my body's not responding!"

"Ho? That is interesting," Freeza said, hand to his chin and he shrugged. "Oh well, I guess it was never meant to be then."

"Dammit, this doesn't make sense! Why won't my body respond to Ultra Instinct?!" Goku cried and he started feeling nervous now. He clenched his fists and growled. Freeza cracked his neck and floated up to the air, drawing Goku's attention.

"I was going to save this as a response to Ultra Instinct but since you've been a disappointment this fight, I might as well send you to hell with my glorious present anyway!"

"What?!" Goku cried and he looked at Freeza, fear creeping up inside him. "What is he doing?"

Freeza powered up again and he unleashed a blinding flash of light as he screamed. A pillar of light emerged around him as Goku shielded his eyes and felt an incredible power blew against him.

"What kind of power is this?!" Goku yelled and he was almost blown back from the force of the energy Freeza was emitting.

Elsewhere, the remaining Namekians who were still able to hold on despite their loss of numbers, stared on in sheer terror at the pillar of light in the distance. Even Cooler and Broly had to stop.

"What is he up to now?" Cooler muttered and Broly growled, willing to fly off but Cooler quickly made a high speed burst to appear in front of him.

"Your fight's still with me, Saiyan!" Cooler shouted and Broly howled as the two continued their fight.

The light pillar faded and shrunk into Freeza and when the glow around him ceased, Goku's face looked at him in horror.

Freeza's body had the same form and curvature but it was like one large crystal, somewhat translucent as Goku could see himself and the landscape slightly reflected off the surface. Freeza's eyes were glossed over without any pupils and his facial features were almost merged together with whatever this glass-like crystal form was. Goku could barely make out the smile on the tyrant's face as he floated back down to land in front of him.

 _What do you think?_

Goku gasped as Freeza's mouth didn't move. He had trouble believing it was possible to see a new transformation from Freeza.

 _Even I admit I wasn't aware there was yet another plateau to climb. The limit breaking strength I witnessed at the Tournament of Power made me curious enough to see whether I could achieve it myself._

Freeza took a couple of steps towards Goku and he had to stand back a moment out of instinct.

 _I discovered this during my mental training some time ago while you Saiyans were off playing around your planet. I like to call this "Crystal Freeza"._

"Crystal Freeza?" Goku muttered and Freeza grinned again.

 _I wanted to be absolutely sure that I understood this power before I used it on anyone. If I were to ever face Jiren or you in your Ultra Instinct, I needed a form suitable to defy your limit breaking potential and I sincerely hope I don't disappoint you._

 _I can't sense his energy anymore,_ Goku thought to himself as Freeza kept walking towards him. He took up a fighting pose and steeled his nerves to focus again. Freeza moved so fast that Goku couldn't react in time and his fist stopped short of hitting Goku in the face.

 _You can't sense my movements, can you?_

Goku gritted his teeth and teleported to gain some distance and Freeza lowered his fist.

 _All of my power has been converted into my physical body, making those energy detection techniques you rely on so much completely useless._

"Dammit," Goku muttered. He wasn't sure how to approach him now, stepping around cautiously as Freeza stared at him and he swallowed. Taking a risk, he burst forward and went for a punch but Freeza moved his hand to catch Goku's fist. He went up for a kick in response and Goku had to quickly catch it, launching himself to the air.

Freeza leapt up in pursuit and Goku fired off energy blasts that deflected off the crystal-like skin of Freeza and he grunted, flying to gain some distance.

 _If I leave with Broly now, I have to deal with his berserk state back on Earth and he won't stop until everything's destroyed,_ he thought as he stared off in the distance at the battle between Cooler and Broly and he cupped his hands together. Freeza stopped and flew back down to land on the ground. He crossed his arms, staring up at Goku.

"Is he daring me to fire down at him?" he said and wanted to employ the same strategy he had used against Cell long ago with a warp Kamehameha but the way Freeza was standing there staring up at him confidently made him start to second-guess himself. Goku couldn't help but laugh nervously a bit now.

"I almost want to blame myself for spending so much time training Uub but right now I can't believe Freeza was training himself this much over the years. He's thought this whole thing through."

Goku lowered his hands and flew down to the ground in front of Freeza.

 _Giving up so soon?_

"I ain't giving up. I'll find a way around this," he said. _If I could just get my body to cooperate and tap into Ultra Instinct!_

Freeza frowned for the first time since he transformed.

 _I'm afraid your time is up, Saiyan._

Goku's eyes widened as Freeza made his move and his face was hit with a punch he had never felt before. He remembered every single punch he ever took from some of the strongest fighters he'd met in the past, but those paled in comparison to the force that came from Freeza. He clutched his jaw with his hands, blood seeping from inside and he started feeling dizzy. It was making him feel nauseated and he wanted to throw up, all from a single punch and he stared wide-eyed at Freeza. He tried to speak but his jaw was damaged too much to get a single word out and he glared at him. Clenching his fist, he growled through his mouth as he flew to him but Freeza wasn't moving. He powered up to his highest, Kaioken times twenty, using all what he could conjure for just one punch and he aimed it squarely at Freeza's head. He didn't care that Freeza wasn't moving and his punch connected but the shockwave from the hit recoiled throughout his body and he felt his hand and arm go numb within seconds. His right arm was no longer useful as it drooped down in front of him and he couldn't even close his hand anymore. Every bone in his arm was cracked and broken from the impact against his fist and Goku grabbed the shattered arm as he stared at Freeza. He didn't know what to do now and having him stand in front of him gave him no window to even begin contemplating drawing energy for a Spirit Bomb and he pleaded with his body to help him tap into Ultra Instinct but nothing was happening and he wanted to scream.

 **The fall…**

Kelerot and Beerus were firing energy blasts at each other simultaneously, each one connecting with the other. He still had a smile on his face as the two flew across the grassy terrain and the lake ahead, Kelerot leading him on. Beerus overtook him and appeared in front of him, getting in a few shots at the Saiyan to knock him down to the ground and Kelerot corrected himself to land on his feet before he crashed and he opened and closed his fist, focusing a gravity field around the Destroyer.

Beerus grunted as he felt himself pulled down and he powered himself out of it. He flew down, spinning around to avoid Kelerot's energy blasts and he put forth a burst of speed to punch Kelerot as he passed him by, stopping on a dime right behind him to knock him on the back of the head with the back of his fist. Kelerot staggered forward and Beerus slammed him to the ground with his tail.

"What's wrong? Goku lasted far longer than this," Beerus said and Kelerot flipped around to nip back up on his feet. Dusting himself off, Kelerot opened up his hand and conjured a grey colored sphere above his hand, smiling at him.

"Tell me, Beerus. You've been around the block a few times, right?" Kelerot said, hand behind his back.

"Don't toy with me, _Gardenian_ ," Beerus said, leering at him. Kelerot's face darkened a bit before he continued smiling back at him.

"I'm a Saiyan, not a Gardenian, Beerus," Kelerot boasted.

"Is that so? Sounds odd that there wasn't a single individual in your universe who ever knew what Saiyans were until the Tournament of Power. You've always been Gardenians, right?" Beerus explained and Kelerot shot him a look.

"That wasn't until my Master Daikon showed up. When we started referring to ourselves as Saiyans, it made more sense. It made us feel stronger," Kelerot told them and Beerus was the one to give him a dangerous look.

"And what did this Master Daikon look like?" Beerus asked him and Kelerot frowned.

"What's it to you? Why does this need to be discussed? Just shut up and fight."

"Now now, we'll resume our fight, but I would like to genuinely know where Daikon came from if he's calling your people Saiyans. He wasn't from your planet, was he?"

Kelerot chuckled. "I see what game you're playing, Destroyer. You're throwing me off so I can get angry and lose control of all those powers I've acquired through delving everyone up to this point. You're afraid I might have delved you as well."

"Go ahead, I don't care. Us gods have been around so long that we've shared a lot of common knowledge together. I just find them all annoying," he said, scratching inside his long ear.

"Fine, I'll indulge you. Daikon never said where he came from, he was pretty secretive about that. His hair was black like Vegeta's and he had almond shaped eyes. He also had a beard and a very imposing look on his face."

"What was that?" Vegeta said. When Kelerot mentioned almond-shaped eyes, it triggered his memories of seeing Cabba, Caulifla, and Kale from Universe 6 and Whis noticed the reaction on his face.

"Curious," Whis said, watching Kelerot.

"Of course it's curious, Whis. How the heck does a Saiyan from the sixth universe make his way to the eleventh universe without anyone knowing about it?" Beerus asked, glancing behind him but then glared at Kelerot with a devious smile on his face. "Unless it was someone with the knowledge of Kinetic Delving that he passed down to someone."

Kelerot frowned and stared at Beerus with a scowl.

"I guess that mystery's solved. Maybe Barbon was right to destroy your planet after all. Taking out Daikon after he's been hiding on us for so long. Wait until Champa hears about this!" Beerus laughed and Kelerot's eyes widened in fury and he threw the grey sphere at Beerus. He snapped his fingers and it exploded into a miniature black hole that began pulling everything in and Whis sighed. With the tip of his staff, he sealed off the intense gravity well and gave Kelerot a look like a parent would when they want to scold their child.

"We have a few rules about destroying things on our planet, _Gardenian,_ " Beerus told him and Kelerot shot Whis a look.

"I guess you don't like my black hole bombs. Fine. But that wasn't what I used to kill Jiren with," he said and Vegeta's face lit up a bit, clenching his fists. Whis kept him back with the base of his staff, staring ahead and Beerus's aura glowed around him.

"What now, Gardenian? As long as Whis and I are in control and as long as you're on this planet, your little tricks won't work. The only option you have left is your destruc-"

Beerus didn't feel Kelerot's punch until his feet dragged along the ground, the force knocking him back and Kelerot had the same aura around him. His eyes took on the same characteristic and he conjured up destruction energy in his hands, glowering at him. Beerus shook his head and a small trickle of his blood came down from the corner of his mouth and he wiped it with the back of his hand.

"You've said enough, and I _am_ a Saiyan like him. Calling me a Gardenian implies a weaker form of a Saiyan warrior and my strength will not be ignored," Kelerot said as he stalked towards him.

"Have you become so delusional that you're willing to shun your own planet's legacy at the drop of a hat? Or is this due to the aftereffects of Kinetic Delving?" Beerus sighed, hands behind his back.

"What?"

"Daikon didn't warn you about this? The dangers of overusing that technique?" Beerus asked, pointing a finger at him.

"He did, what's your point? He said I needed to be careful not to let the person I'm delving be aware that I'm doing it otherwise I'd leave myself open to them as well."

"Did he also mention the damage it does to you psychologically? Because we saw first hand the danger you put yourself through after delving so many people when you lost control of those abilities you copied."

Kelerot's eye twitched a bit. "I, delving was only to gain knowledge of my opponent!"

"Sounds more like you enjoyed putting your nose in other people's business without their knowledge or consent. If you ask me, that makes you a pretty pathetic mortal."

"SHUT UP!" Kelerot screamed and launched himself at Beerus with the destruction energy and Beerus swatted them out of the way to the air, punching Kelerot in the face. He went to chop him in the neck but Kelerot grabbed his hand and kicked him in the gut to send him flying back. Beerus stopped in mid-air and he fired several energy blasts down at him as he flew up to engage him. Beerus was leading him now as he threaded through the structure within the tree and Kelerot fired off energy blasts that Beerus swerved around to avoid. He flipped over and twisted his body to attack Kelerot from above but his punch was grabbed and Kelerot threw him through a support pillar. Kelerot then launched himself from inside and his face was purely focused as he flew down towards Beerus, making an energy sword from his hand. He brought it down to slice at Beerus but it was caught in the Destroyer's hands and Beerus glared up at him, baring his teeth in a grin. Kelerot's eyes flashed and Beerus reacted quickly by defending himself as Kelerot used Jiren's attack with his eyes, causing a huge explosion in the area. Kelerot smirked as he used one of the prisoner's shapeshifting abilities to change himself into Beerus and Beerus stared back at him wide-eyed. Kelerot-Beerus grinned as he flew to Beerus and the two began trading blows fiercely. Whis flicked his staff and the damage done to the building repaired itself, keeping everything intact while he and Vegeta watched the fight progress.

"I still have some delicious treats made by Lemo still left over if you'd wish to partake, Vegeta," Whis asked him, summoning the food items to him and Vegeta didn't acknowledge him, staring at the fight with his arms crossed.

"Ah here we go, I was eager to try this earlier but there was just so much food to choose from I didn't know where to start!" Whis exclaimed happily, opening up a container of delectable chocolate truffles and he eyed one like one would admire a large gem and he popped it in his mouth, smiling delightfully as he tilted his head from side to side.

"Oh! I can taste a delicious fruit filling inside! It's strawberry!" he shouted and he casually offered one to Vegeta, who glanced down at it. Swallowing, he couldn't resist the urge to try one himself and grabbed it to put it in his mouth quickly without looking at Whis and his eyes lit up as to how delicious it tasted and he almost smiled. Almost. _So this must be why Bulma craves these sweets so much, especially those Strawberries._

When Whis finished the last one, Beerus was knocked back towards them and he glanced down at the empty box and glared up at Whis.

"Hey! Stop eating the rest of the food if you plan on leaving some for me, Whis!" Beerus said and Kelerot-Beerus flew in to punch him, which was caught and the two Beeruses locked hands in a test of strength that caused destruction energy to leak out from them and erode the ground underneath. Whis created a bubble around himself and Vegeta and flew them up to a ledge along the tree.

"Goodness this fight is escalating," he said and Vegeta noticed Whis was looking at him.

"The corner of your mouth," he told him and Vegeta's eyes widened a bit, licking some chocolate that was still on the corner of his mouth and he averted his eyes afterwards, sighing.

Beerus and Kelerot-Beerus let go of each other and Beerus conjured a large sphere of energy that looked like a miniature sun and he launched it down at Kelerot-Beerus. He caught it and it was pushing down on him.

"I'll be surprised if some imitation of me manages to contain that!" Beerus said, crossing his arms and Kelerot-Beerus was pushed down to the ground. He gritted his teeth and his shape started changing back to his original form.

"It seems that ability has a short time span," Whis noted and Vegeta studied Kelerot more closely.

Beerus flicked his fingers down at the sphere and it grew bigger, pushing down on Kelerot even more and the Saiyan howled, conjuring a gravity well that surrounded it and began shrinking it until the energy disappeared and Beerus clapped his hands, floating down to the ground.

"Remarkable, Gardenian. I'd expect nothing less from you. Daikon taught you well," he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice and Kelerot stared up at him, growling.

"Stop calling me that! I'm a Saiyan, I've earned that right!" Kelerot shouted and Beerus nonchalantly cleaned something out from between his teeth, spitting it out.

"Is that so? Where's your Super Saiyan form? Your tail? That disgusting lust for battle I've reluctantly grown accustomed to?"

Kelerot didn't have an answer and Beerus brought his hand up to Kelerot's face.

"I thought as much," he said and flicked his finger, sending Kelerot flying hard into the forest. He crashed through the ground and dragged along it until he almost fell off the edge of the surface to an abyss he saw had no bottom to. Vegeta frowned a bit, as something caught his attention and watched Kelerot fly back in full force. Beerus was ready for him and Kelerot stopped, conjuring Jiren's energy attack and he launched it down at Beerus with a howl.

Beerus sighed and produced a small sphere of destruction energy that he launched at the large ball of energy and it engulfed it, erasing the energy and he flew up to Kelerot. Kelerot threw a few punches that Beerus dodged and moved around and Kelerot grew flustered as he was no longer able to hit him. Beerus connected with a few hard hits to Kelerot and it sent him crashing into the ground and Vegeta lowered his arms. He got off the ledge and flew down to the ground level, followed by Whis and he watched Beerus walk over to Kelerot as he was slow to get back up, moving to his hands and knees.

"A fitting position for someone like you," Beerus said, standing before him. Kelerot was breathing a bit, chuckling, and shaking his head.

"Is there something funny?" Beerus asked.

"You've got me. I tried to topple the greatest Destroyer who ever lived and I failed. What a sad ending this has become for me," Kelerot said and Vegeta eyed him cautiously.

"Something doesn't feel right about this," he said and Whis glanced down at him.

"Are you certain?"

"Why is he giving up so easily? He barely took that much damage," Vegeta noted and stared at Beerus.

"I will admit you fought valiantly until the end, Gardenian. You've staved off my boredom for at least a little while," he said, smiling and Kelerot sighed, looking down at the ground.

"Do it then," he said, clenching his fists, bracing himself.

"Gladly," Beerus said, raising his hand, facing his palm forward with his thumb tucked in and Vegeta felt a great deal of unease in his gut.

"Lord Beerus, wait! This has to be a trap!"

"Are you trying to tell a Destroyer how to do his job, Vegeta?" Beerus asked, glaring at him and Vegeta swallowed.

"No, my Lord."

"Then mind your tongue unless you want to join him," Beerus said and leered back down at Kelerot. Vegeta couldn't contain the growing level of anxiety as he watched Kelerot closely and couldn't help but sense that Kelerot had something up his sleeve.

"Whis, this isn't right. I can't shake this feeling. Can't you stop him from destroying someone?" Vegeta asked and Whis shook his head.

"It's not in our place to obstruct a Destroyer unless he acts beyond his authority. He has every right to destroy this mortal as he sees fit."

Kelerot swallowed, a sweat bead trickling down his face. It was the waiting that was bothersome to him, waiting to see when Beerus was going to use the Hakai technique to destroy him and he cleared his mind, closing his eyes.

Beerus stared down at this mortal for a moment, feeling disgusted that he adopted a color scheme just like the other Destroyers and he felt an equal amount of dissatisfaction like he did when he destroyed Zamasu years ago. Erasing this bothersome mortal made him think he'd want to double the amount of those pudding cups Lemo had made for him, the thought of the delicious chocolate sliding down his throat almost made him stop what he was doing because he was craving them again. But he sighed and shook his head, staring down at Kelerot.

"Imagine all this work I have to do to crave pudding again. Oh well," he said and Kelerot winced, bracing himself.

"At least have the dignity to be destroyed with pride. Hakai," he said. The moment that word left his mouth, Kelerot grinned and looked up at him. A pulse shot out from Kelerot and then into Beerus and the Hakai technique he began to use on Kelerot bounced back to him and his own hand began to dissolve into purple particles slowly. Beerus's eyes lit up and he was completely stunned to see his own destruction energy destroy him.

Vegeta's face lit up in shock as he saw Beerus's hands erased, the hakai travelling up his arms. He turned to Whis in a panic.

"Whis, rewind it! Whis! WHIS!" he cried but Whis didn't respond. His staff fell out of his hand and he collapsed forward on the ground.

"It's too late, Vegeta," Beerus said, staring down at Kelerot who was looking up at him with an equally surprised look on his face, eyes wide with wonder.

On the Supreme Kai homeworld, Shinkai was reading a book while Kibito was harvesting apples from a tree, putting them in a basket he held to his side. Shinkai's body fluctuated and the book fell through his hands as he looked at them dissolving before him and his eyes widened.

"Kibito, something's wrong!" he said, staggering forward. Kibito glanced over and watched Shinkai dissolve before him, staring in complete shock.

"The potara! Hurry and take them!" the Supreme Kai shouted and Kibito ran to take them off his ears.

"Supreme Kai, what is this?! What is happening to you?!"

"Lord Beerus, he's-"

Kibito gasped and Shinkai completely dissolved away before he could say anything else, the winds carrying the purple particles in the air and Kibito stared down at the potara earrings in his hand, shaking in fear. He sank to his knees and screamed to the heavens: "SUPREME KAI!"

Beerus closed his eyes and smiled down at him. "Well played."

Those were the last words Beerus spoke before he disappeared forever, the purple particles disappearing shortly afterwards and Kelerot stood back up on his feet, holding a hand to his heart, feeling it beat heavily against his chest. Vegeta stared on in shock and horror. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed and Kelerot took a few deep breaths, sighing.

"I honestly wasn't sure whether that technique would've worked or not," he said and closed his eyes.

"Kai-kai," he said and frowned when nothing happened. "Dammit, he locked the barrier in place, that bastard."

"Wh-what did you just do?!" Vegeta asked, finally getting the words out of his mouth.

"It's the most curious thing, Vegeta. There exists a species in my universe and I met one of them while I was in prison. They have nothing special to them, as basic as they come, nor are they warriors in particular. I thought nothing of it when I delved him but the more I looked into what was inside him, the more curious it made me as to one ability this small fellow had in particular."

Kelerot looked at his hand for a moment. "They possessed the unique ability to either deflect or reflect energy back at the user. When I started learning more about the existence of the kais and the Destroyers during my time in prison, I started to wonder whether or not I could actually reflect destruction energy back onto a Destroyer. It was the only way I felt for sure I could actually destroy a God of Destruction without killing the Supreme Kai through their lifelink."

Vegeta's eyes widened, still in shock as to what he witnessed and Kelerot approached him.

"I know I shouldn't attempt this because I'm already in over my head as it is with all the people I've delved, but what would happen if I delved Whis now? What kind of power would I have if I added an angel's power to a Destroyer's and a Kai's?"

Vegeta's face exploded in fury as he stared icicles at Kelerot. "How dare you. How dare you! You're going to pay for this!"

Kelerot frowned. "You can walk away from this, Vegeta. I'm offering you the chance to go back home to your loved ones and forget this all happened. This matter of killing Toppo doesn't need to involve you and I'd rather we not come to blows over something so trivial. Besides, we're Saiyans, aren't we? We're practically _family_ across the multiverse!"

"You bastard," Vegeta said, his power skyrocketing as his blue aura flared around him and his hair shifted to a deeper blue. "You'll never be a Saiyan. You mock everything that makes a Saiyan who they are. And for what you just did, and for what you stand for, I'll make you suffer! I'll stake the one thing you'll never have in your entire existence on it!"

"And what is that?" Kelerot asked.

"MY PRIDE!" Vegeta screamed and his power billowed out with calamitous fury as his hair changed color and it shifted from blue to purple. The muscles that were bulging from his blue form shrunk back down to the structure he had when he was using his Super Saiyan God form and Kelerot stared back in surprise.

"Th-that wasn't there when I delved him," he said, his voice shaking a bit. Vegeta shook with a purple colored aura as sparks of electricity shot out around him and particles of energy flowed up around him as he stared at Kelerot purple eyes that had black irises inside and Kelerot actually started to feel worried now.


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30 – "Vegeta vs. Kelerot! The fate of the future at stake."**

 **The Ripple effect…**

The destruction of Beerus had not gone unnoticed. All across the multiverse, the gods felt something had happened and Vados from the sixth universe was the first to sense it. She was watching Champa play around with a nutritious salad she had prepared, scoffing at the greens and cherry tomatoes she picked out from a garden she grew herself and he batted the tomato around with his fork like it was a ball.

She put a hand to her chest and blinked a moment, feeling weak in the legs and she had to sit down.

"Eh?" Champa noticed out of the corner of his eye and he stood up from his chair. He cleared his throat.

"I'll have you know I managed to eat a third of your salad, so at least be proud of my accomplishment," he said, puffing out his chest but Vados didn't acknowledge him. She held a hand to her head.

"You could at least be more enthusiastic about it, Vados," he told her but she shook her head.

"It's not that, Lord Champa. Something terrible has happened, something from the seventh universe."

"Seventh? What's Beerus been up to this time? Food poisoning?" he said, laughing and Vados shook her head.

"I wish I could share in your humor, Lord Champa but this is far worse than I expected. I think Lord Beerus has been destroyed."

Champa's ears twitched and he paused for a moment before gasping and staring at her wide-eyed.

"Destroyed?! You're kidding!"

"I don't know. But I did feel something happen to Whis and he 'stopped', which must only mean one thing."

"Has someone in the seventh killed the Supreme Kai?" Champa asked and Vados shook her head.

"I honestly wish I knew. I'll have to look into it to be sure."

Champa didn't show it in his face but losing his brother did hit him in the gut when he heard the news from Vados and he scoffed, crossing his arms. He glanced back at the salad and made a disgusted face, walking over to their cabinet to retrieve a jug of juice. He took a few sips and glanced back at Vados and her expression grew even grimmer and he swallowed.

Each of the other universes experienced the same effect as the angels felt a sinking feeling in their gut and stared outward. Awamo of the first universe stared outside the archive doors and his eyes widened. He rushed back inside and ran to the network room and brought up the network on display and gasped when he saw that Beerus and Shinkai's lines were no longer there, deleted from the Network. Normally when a person dies, their network thread shuts off and it displays as a gray line rather than a white "active" line, but when a person is destroyed by a God, their line is deleted completely from the network, as well as their archive book and Awamo brought up the other grid, the one he had been more concerned with and it showed Kelerot and Vegeta's lines criss-crossing each other.

"No…it's happening far sooner than I expected. Oh Whis, I'm so sorry." Awamo said, closing his eyes and staring down.

In the twelfth universe, Geene and Martinu were supervising one of his forges when the plump female angel felt a pressure in her chest and she put a hand to it.

"Something wrong?" he asked and she examined her staff, looking through it at each of the other universes.

"Yes, my lord," she said, studying each universe that appeared and paused when she saw the seventh and Whis's body on the ground. Geene glanced and his eyes widened.

"What the? Why is Whis on the ground?!"

"He's been 'deactivated', my Lord. Which could only mean that Lord Beerus and the Supreme Kai are dead."

Geene gulped and started to sweat a bit. In all this time, he never would've imagine that Beerus of all Destroyers would be killed. Martinu's face grew serious and she walked forward.

"I must speak with the Grand Minister," she said and turned to Geene, who nodded and she summoned their Supreme Kai to usher them to Grand Zeno's palace to visit the Grand Minister.

Heles of the second universe sat on her golden throne with heart shaped ornaments decorating the back as servants fanned her with large heart-shaped feather fans, Sour with a neutral expression on his face standing to her left. His frown increased and Heles picked up on the shift in emotion and she glanced at him. Pell, her Supreme Kai, observed the shift and looked up at him.

"Goodness, Sour with a sour look," he said and Sour sighed momentarily.

"Has something happened?" Heles asked and she dismissed her servants with a wave of her hand.

"I sense something has happened that has likely reached my siblings. We must go see the Grand Minister at once."

Heles and Pell exchanged looks and she stood up. "But this will cut into my bath scheduled to happen in a few minutes. Can it wait?"

"I'm afraid not, my Lady. We must proceed at once otherwise we'd receive a summons from the Grand Minister himself if we do not act accordingly."

"Oh very well," she said, clapping her hands. "Postpone the bath until my return!"

The servants, two dozen of them, all bowed and left her grand palace lobby and closed the doors behind them. She crossed her arms and sighed, glancing at Sour.

"I hope your intuition is accurate, Sour. I don't want a foul mood to mess up this visage of beauty."

"Of course not, my Lady. You are forever stunning and loved by all," Pell said, bowing at her and she couldn't help but go red in the cheeks, smiling down at the Kai.

They left shortly afterwards.

In the Third universe, Mule, leaning on the opened hatch of his robot suit, Mosco, was playing a holographic game of 3D chess with Camparri. The holographic projection of their game was one of only a few sources of light, with computer monitors and a dimmed light from outside the door's window illuminating the room. Camparri went to move his piece but stopped and hesitated a moment.

"That doesn't look like a hesitation to move your piece," Mule noted and Camparri shook his head.

"A terrible feeling just came over me all of a sudden. I'm overcome with a sudden urge to meet the Grand Minister."

"Eh? So soon? It's not another Tournament of Power, is it? I'd rather not experience being erased a second time if it came to that, those fighters were a handful," Mule said but Camparri shook his head.

"No, it's something else. I'll summon Ea at once to take us there," he told the Destroyer and used his staff to contact him.

The fourth and ninth universes responded in haste, Cognac and Mojito wasting no time to gather their Destroyers and Kais respectively to teleport to Grand Zeno's palace. Arack and Liquir were in the middle of a conference call when they were interrupted by their angels, Cukatail and Korn, informing them of their need to meet with the Grand Minister and they took their leave at the same time with their Kais.

Marcarita and Barbon waited for Cae to appear and he saw a grim look from Barbon which meant something terrible had happened.

"It can't be…" Cae said, eyes wide in shock.

"The mortal named Kelerot has somehow destroyed Lord Beerus and the kai by extension. We must meet with the Grand Minister immediately."

"Has he summoned us to Grand Zeno's palace?" Cae asked and Marcarita shook her head.

"No, but I don't doubt he is aware of what has happened and will be expecting us to meet him shortly. We mustn't waste any more time."

Cae felt his heart sink as he nodded, putting his hands behind Barbon and Marcarita: "Kai-kai."

 **Vegeta's new form…**

Sparks flying around him, Vegeta's rage was calm yet focused on Kelerot as he approached him. Kelerot steeled his nerves and stared back at the Saiyan prince, grinning at the new hair color.

"Purple hair. I was honestly not expecting this from you, Vegeta. Though I haven't delved you enough to satisfy my curiosity," he said but Vegeta didn't respond, only staring at him with the intensity of a predator ready to strike and kill its prey.

"No more words then? Just scream about your 'pride' like you have something to gain from this? I don't want to have to put myself in a position where I need to kill a fellow Saiyan. I've come to admire this universe and all of you who live in it. I could learn a lot from you, Broly, and Goku, and how motivating your lust for battle is."

Still no words came from Vegeta and Kelerot frowned. He disappeared in front of him and Kelerot gawked, eyes wide and Vegeta was right behind him, fist an inch from Kelerot's head. He then made one quick flick of his fist and Kelerot was knocked forward into the tree, crashing through it to come out on the other side and he flipped around, grabbing the ground to drag and slow himself down before he fell off the other side of the planet and he shook his head, holding the back of it with his hands. Grunting and hissing a bit, Vegeta re-appeared right in front of him and Kelerot's eyes widened again as he blocked a chop coming down with his arms crossed and both of them moved like blurs across the planet.

"I held back against Beerus on purpose, you know! I knew he had no chance when I had that unique ability of mine standing by in case he was going to use the hakai on me and I gambled on seeing whether it worked or not!" Kelerot yelled as the two were fighting in the air and Vegeta blocked a few punches from Kelerot and kicked him down into the lake. Kelerot burst from the water and fired several energy blasts that Vegeta deflected with one hand and he growled as he extended his arm, palm facing up.

"Big Bang Attack!" Vegeta yelled and shot out a powerful purple colored energy sphere at Kelerot, who had no choice but to dodge it and it plowed through the planet completely, the water from the lake draining into the makeshift hole. Kelerot glanced down at it and gulped.

"Had I taken that head on, that would've been a problem," he said and Vegeta grinned. He turned his hand upward and made a "come here" motion with his hand and Kelerot looked at him suspiciously. The sphere from the Big Bang flew back up through the hole and Kelerot reacted quickly, catching it in his hands and Vegeta flipped his hand back around, grinning.  
He belted out a yell and a second Big Bang sphere shot out from his hand and Kelerot reacted in panic, holding one sphere with his hand and blocking the second with his other hand. The two pushed against him and he growled, closing his eyes, and gritting his teeth.

Vegeta put the pressure on Kelerot as the two spheres drove themselves further inward, forcing Kelerot to unleash a powerful shout that destroyed them both with his energy and he disappeared, flickering around in several places before he appeared before him, surprising Vegeta with his sudden burst of speed and their fists collided, causing a wave of energy to shoot out and hit the barrier above them, shaking it with intense vibration. It held on as Kelerot pushed Vegeta down as their fists were still collided against each other and he stared at him wide-eyed with fury on his face, Vegeta responding with his other hand and their hands clasped in a test of strength.

"You shouldn't have this much power, I made sure of that when I delved you!" Kelerot said and Vegeta grinned, chuckling a bit.  
"Then you really don't understand Saiyans after all," he said and pushed back against him.

"Tell me what this power is!" Kelerot said, noticing that it was actually blocking his attempts to delve him and he looked a bit more flustered.

"Ho? Can't poke around, can you?" Vegeta said with a confident air and he hit Kelerot several times with pinpoint punches to his chest, abdomen, and face, knocking him down to the ground with a double-ax handle. He followed up with several energy blasts he fired consecutively that rocked Kelerot as the landed on the ground and put his hands together, setting himself up for a Galick Gun.

Kelerot looked up and saw that Vegeta was ready to fire and he yelled, powering up, his dark purple aura surrounding him and he conjured up black hole bombs in his hands.

"Your strength is nothing to the power of gravity!" Kelerot cried out and launched the bombs up at Vegeta. He snapped his fingers and they burst open, their gravitational field drawing them closer to become an even bigger cluster of intense gravity and Vegeta fired the beam straight into it. He fed the energy into the vortex and screamed as he put forth another burst of power that destroyed the gravity well and the beam continued onward down to Kelerot.

"What?!" he cried and teleported out of the way, appearing away from the beam's trajectory and he stared at it, flustered. He examined his surroundings for a moment.

"At least I can teleport within this space, but as long as that damn barrier is up, I can't get out of here," he said and glanced down at Whis's body and grinned.

"It's now or never," he said and teleported towards Whis and Vegeta caught him at the last second. He fired a blast at Whis's body and the explosion sent his body flying upward from the energy and he flew to grab him, throwing him far away. Whis passed through the barrier and floated off in the space beyond it and Kelerot leered at Vegeta, grinning back down at him.

"It seems Whis is able to pass through his own barrier, no surprise there," he said and Kelerot growled, but chuckled a bit afterwards.

"You're stuck here too, you know that, right?" Kelerot noted and Vegeta crossed his arms.

"And? If it means killing you to prevent you from escaping, then so be it."

Kelerot couldn't help but laugh. "Kill me?! _Kill…me?!"_

He clenched his fists and unleashed an explosion of power from his body.

"I AM A GOD NOW, VEGETA! I WILL BE THE SAIYAN THAT STANDS ABOVE ALL SAIYANS!"

 _He's lost his sense of reason,_ Vegeta noted in his head and he clenched his fists, preparing himself for Kelerot's next attack and Kelerot's face looked just as unfurled as his personality now. Through his smile, he began shifting his body to a different form and Vegeta gasped when he saw who he was changing into.

Goku.

 **Saiyans fall…**

Jaw and right arm shattered, Goku was left with only his thoughts as he watched this Crystal-like form Freeza had transformed to and he tried for a scowl but it was too painful to even try. _Crystal Freeza. It doesn't matter what he calls himself if I don't have something to take him down. C'mon body, why won't you cooperate?_

He powered up again and built up energy in his good hand for a Kamehameha blast and Freeza floated in place, not moving.

 _Kamehameha. That is what you call that attack, correct?_

Goku narrowed his eyes as he fought the urge to pass out. The blood loss and the numbness combined with waves of pain shooting through his body made him feel fatigued and Freeza could see it on his face as the energy in his hand grew larger.

 _By now you should realize that anything you do to me will be ineffective, Goku._

Goku began moving around, fighting through the pain to flicker around Freeza, looking for an opening but Freeza wasn't moving an inch from his position. The sheer look of confidence he wore on his crystal face unnerved him but Goku relented and threw everything into his one-armed Kamehameha and he appeared in front of Freeza, launching it at point-blank range. The beam split in half as it drove itself into Freeza, his crystal body cutting through it like a sharp knife through a sheet of paper. When the beam ceased, Goku forced a smile through his shattered jawline and lowered his hand. He closed his eyes, searching deep inside him, searching for that one spark he needed to tap into Ultra Instinct but it was like seeing a wall appear in front of him. A wall he hadn't seen before and in his subconscious mind, he put a hand on it.

 _I honestly was not expecting this to happen. A literal wall blocking my path,_ he thought, laughing to himself. _I can't believe the day would actually come when my own body has beaten me._

He opened his eyes and stared at Freeza, who landed on the ground and stalked towards him.

 _Your face carries the resolution of a fighter giving up against insurmountable odds._

Freeza wasted no time and moved in a blur, appearing before Goku to strike at him with hard blows Goku wasn't fast enough to block and his body took a considerable amount of punishment from Freeza's fists, damaging his shoulder, ribs, and back and Goku staggered a few steps yet was still able to remain standing. He wanted to scream in pain but growled through his jaw, the blood gurgling inside his mouth as it spat out and onto Freeza.

Despite all the pain he was in, Goku managed to laugh a bit through his jaw and winced each time he did it. In his head, he was still staring at the wall.

 _Everyone, I'm sorry. I honestly was not expecting this to turn out the way it did. If somewhere deep inside I realized I was in over my head coming here, I don't blame it. I guess I can't blame my body either. If by some miracle I make it out of this, I swear I will find a way to defeat you, Freeza._

Goku then did something Freeza was not expecting and powered down to his base form, conserving his stamina. He struggled a bit but was able to reach and grab his broken arm and Freeza shook his head.

 _So you've chosen to concede after all. Shameful that I have trained for this moment only to realize that it wasn't needed._

He floated up to the air and extended his hand down towards Goku and the terrain he was on.

 _It would be ironic if you were sent to the same hell I was, enjoying an eternity of cute animals and fairies playing annoying music but I know that would never be._

His hand pulsed and Goku's eyes widened in horror as a massive explosion rocked the entire area he was standing on. Broly and Cooler paused their brawl and the massive Saiyan sensed something had gone horribly wrong where Goku was.

"Ka…kar…rot…" he muttered, breathing heavily and he clenched his fists, belting out a roar of defiance.

"It would appear my brother has done away with that monkey scum. A pity that I was not the one to deliver the killing blow!"

He flew in front of Broly to prevent him from engaging Freeza but Broly continued onward and Cooler hit him several times with punches to his body. Broly absorbed the damage like a sponge and retaliated with heavy hits to Cooler's face and he was starting to seriously feel the effects of the cumulative damage Broly dealt to him and he staggered back a few steps.

"Not by a Saiyan…" he muttered, trying to hold himself up and he built up energy in his hands. He fired them at Broly as he was stomping his way towards him and Cooler flew in to punch him but his strikes were considerably weaker now after the damage had worn his strength down and Broly howled, rocking Cooler with more heavy blows and he grabbed him by the face, lifting him off the ground. He was still breathing heavily and he drove Cooler hard into the ground, shoving his body by his head and he continued pounding with heavy strikes: punches, haymakers, double-ax handles and Cooler was becoming more bloodied and bludgeoned until his face was no longer recognizable and Broly clenched his bloodied fists, roaring in the air. He continued breathing heavily as he stood up and stared off at Freeza and Goku and through his berserker state he was still able to recognize Goku lying face first on the ground.

The explosion tore through Goku in a horrific way, leaving parts of his upper body burnt and charred, his legs broken and mangled from the onslaught of energy. Half of his face was bloodied and almost torn off from the energy and his entire right arm was gone, destroyed at the shoulder. He had been completely decimated by Freeza and by some stretch of miracle, he was still able to will himself to move, looking up with one eye at Freeza, who stared down at him.

"Ka…kar…rot…" Broly growled again with concern in his voice and he stomped towards Freeza. Freeza glanced behind him at Broly and saw the hulking Saiyan launch himself from the ground.

"FREEZA!" Broly screamed and he clenched his fists as he flew in a pure rage, his full-powered form making a bee-line towards Freeza and Goku raised his hand towards Freeza.

 _No, Broly, don't…_ Goku cried in his head. He still had some reserve of strength left to move his arm and make himself move on the ground as he tried to approach Freeza but he was entirely focused on Broly now to even care about Goku moving.

Freeza casually raised an arm and aimed his hand outward towards Broly as he charged at him like a bull ready to strike and Broly didn't even care what Freeza looked like, only that there was a target in front of him that he needed to attack and he was going to destroy it no matter what.

When Broly was within striking range, Freeza fired a huge beam of energy from his open hand and it pierced through Broly, stopping the Saiyan mid-flight and making him recoil from the damage and the force of the beam. It all happened in one swift motion as Broly fell to the ground, out of his berserker state with a completely surprised look on his face and he landed awkwardly on his side, his eyes glazed over with his mouth open in shock as Goku stared in horror. His face became a picture of fury as he struggled to his feet and Freeza powered out of his Crystal form and back to his normal form, glancing behind him at Goku. Goku's legs shook as he took one step towards Freeza, who waited with his hands on his hips. Looking down at Broly, then at Goku, he simply turned around and started flying up slowly in the air. Goku could barely make an energy ball in his hand and he fired it at Freeza, but the ball flew awkwardly and missed its mark, flying out of range and falling to a random place on the ground, exploding. He collapsed again on the ground and crawled towards Broly.

Not too far off, out of the range of the destruction he had witnessed, Esca's face was pale, as though all the blood left his face. He willed his legs to move, despite all the damage done to him and he hobbled his way towards Goku and Broly, hoping and praying that Freeza wouldn't spot him. Freeza wasn't paying attention to anyone else but Cooler as he made his way to him. Esca breathed heavily as he hobbled and channeled enough power to allow himself to fly off the ground to reach the Saiyans. When he arrived beside Goku, he looked aghast at Goku's mangled body, nervously putting his hands on him.

"Bu…" was all Goku could get out of his mouth before he passed out and Esca shook his head.

"I don't understand what you mean, Goku. I'm so sorry," he said. He tried to heal his body as much as he could but there was far more damage done to him than he realized. He saw Freeza grab Cooler's arm and lifted him off the ground. As he floated upward, he turned and aimed an energy ball down at the planet's surface, his expression remaining serious and focused.

"Goku, please wake up. I can't heal you fast enough, you need to help me! Please!" he cried and continued healing up Goku's body as much as he could. He knew he couldn't regrow the arm Goku had lost but he was able to fix Goku's jaw for the most part and Goku's eyes fluttered open. Esca restored some strength to his legs and his face but Freeza then fired the large energy ball that plowed through the planet's surface, cracking the ground and pillars of fire and magma erupted from within the planet. Goku could make out what was happening and he struggled to reach into his gi as a bright flash of light enveloped the whole planet.

Freeza held onto Cooler's arm as he left the planet's orbit with him, flying to his brother's ship and the hatch opened on top. As Freeza entered the ship, the backdrop of New Namek cracked and underwent its destruction. Seconds later the planet exploded as the ship left to enter hyperspace. All that was left was debris and planetoid fragments that floated around in the vacuum of space, a few lone shards of what were once the Dragonballs drifting away.

Far away back on Earth, Chichi was wiping a plate dry as her father, the Ox King, watched a program on television. Her hands began to shake and crack the plate in her hand as she felt a sudden wave of panic overcome her.

"Goku?" she muttered and didn't realize tears were streaming down her face. Out of instinct, she felt something horrible had happened to her husband and she felt faint, dropping the plate as she passed out on the kitchen floor.

Cheelai too felt that something had happened and she went pale in the face. She turned and saw Arugula's face with a freaked out expression, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open, wanting to scream and Cheelai sank to her hands and knees.

"No…"

She bundled up her fists as she too began crying.

"NOOOOO!" she shrieked out into the open and Lemo took his toque off, holding it against his chest. He closed his eyes tightly as he found it difficult to witness Cheelai break down like this and he gritted his teeth. _Dammit._

 **Last ditch effort…**

Vegeta couldn't believe his eyes as he stared at Kelerot, disguised as Goku and he was smiling back at him, the same friendly smile he had always seen on the Saiyan and he struggled to hold it together.

"Hey Vegeta, what's with the grumpy face?" Kelerot-Goku said and even the mannerisms were exactly like Goku was, which was throwing Vegeta for a loop for a moment.

"You DARE change yourself into Kakarot like this…?" Vegeta stammered, wanting nothing more than to punch him as hard as he could in the face. Kelerot-Goku looked back in confusion.

"I don't know what's got ya so worked up, Vegeta. It's me, Goku," he said, waving at him and chuckling. Vegeta didn't know what to feel more insulted by, the fact that Kelerot had changed into Goku, or that he imitated his mannerisms perfectly. His aura pulsed electrical sparks around him as the ground shook even more and Kelerot-Goku raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, calm down. Let's find a way to get off Beerus's planet and get back to earth, I can't wait to try some of my wife's cooking tonight," Kelerot-Goku said and Vegeta clenched his fists.

"Kakarot's wife has a name. What is it if you're so sure you're him?" he asked, holding his tone, trying to sound each word without shaking in pure rage.

"Huh? Huh, it's been so long since I last saw my wife I can't remember her name anymore! Silly me," he said, laughing and Vegeta pointed a hand at him with three fingers extended outward.

"Perhaps the hole in your chest will refresh your memory, _Kakarot,_ " Vegeta sarcastically mentioned Goku's Saiyan name and fired his Atomic flash attack that Kelerot-Goku brought his hands up to block but the force was so great it knocked him off his feet and Vegeta charged forth and brought a powerful fist down on Kelerot's stomach, knocking the wind out of Goku he had shapeshifted into and it forced him back to his original form. Vegeta unloaded with a flurry of rapid fists that connected with Kelerot and he screamed from each hit before he even hit the ground and Vegeta howled in fury as he continued bombarding Kelerot with fists.

"You've insulted our Pride for the LAST TIME, you bastard!" Vegeta screamed as Kelerot glared back at him with an intense look and he retaliated with an energy pulse that he shot outward, pushing Vegeta away. Kelerot continued howling in rage as a sphere of destruction energy grew from around his body, expanding outward as it was eroding the planet and Vegeta flew up to the air and brought his hands outward, charging energy in his open hands.

Kelerot's destruction sphere ate away at the ground around him, erasing it and it was nearing the large tree. Several trees from the forest behind him were caught in the expanding sphere and were erased as well and Vegeta put forth an incredible amount of power behind his hands and he brought them together, his wrists touching each other.

"FINAL FLASH!" Vegeta howled and a huge pillar of energy shot down at the destruction sphere and it pushed it down towards Kelerot, who continued screaming as the sphere was doing all it could to eat away at the pillar of energy but it was overwhelmed and it crashed through, Kelerot watching in horror as he had to defend himself at the last moment before it struck him completely. Vegeta landed on the ground and kept his hands stretched outward, waiting for the smoke and debris to clear up from the explosion of energy and Kelerot emerged, arms crossed over his head. He lowered them and a psychotic look on his face stared back at Vegeta, eye twitching. Vegeta lowered his hands and clenched his fists, staring at him.

Kelerot looked down at his fists and he began to shake. "I. will not. Be denied. My revenge. Never…!" he managed to say and began powering up even more, raising his power to its maximum and the billowing winds that shot out from him blew hard against Vegeta, who gritted his teeth as he raised his arm in front of him.

Kelerot put his hands together and turned one hand downward in the opposite direction and Vegeta narrowed his eyes.

"What is he doing?" he muttered and Kelerot was snarling, teeth clenched together as he moved his hands around to join them again and slide them in opposite directions, mirroring the same technique he had used against Jiren.

"This is the very technique I used to kill Jiren with!" he said and Vegeta's eyes lit up in surprise and Kelerot roared, sweeping his hands outward in one swift motion. A huge distortion swept the whole planet and Vegeta built up energy to defend himself but this strange distortion didn't affect him. When it subsided, he saw what it had done to the planet and gasped.

"What the hell?!"

Kelerot laughed. "Go ahead and try to attack me now!"

Vegeta examined the planet around him. He saw objects floating in mid-air, staying in one place, while others that were floating around suddenly crashed through the ground and his eyes widened.

"What did you do?!"

"I permanently altered the planet's gravity to create random pockets. The whole area is filled with them, making it extremely difficult to navigate now. But I have the advantage of seeing where they are!"

Vegeta scoffed and fired hundreds of energy blasts around him and several of them were caught within the pockets, some going down while others either slowed or stayed in place and he frowned.

"A gravity minefield," he noted, walking around one of the pockets where the energy ball sank down and the gravity field destroyed it, making it invisible to his eye, yet on closer inspection, he could see the distortion hollowing out a portion of the ground where the pocket was. He looked up and frowned.

"As well as in the air. Your aim is to limit my movement so that I'd slip up and fall into one of those pockets of gravity to give you the striking advantage and take me out," he said and Kelerot grinned, staring at him as his eye continued twitching.

"Just like with Jiren. Brilliant that you figured it out so quickly. Your keen sense of battle is wonderful!" Kelerot boasted and Vegeta started smiling, throwing him off.

"Trying to thwart me with gravity techniques when you should've known how often I trained using gravity myself," Vegeta said and Kelerot looked surprised for a moment.

"But do you know how intense the level of gravity is? Huh?! DO YOU?!" Kelerot yelled and Vegeta floated up off the ground.

"I'll take my chances," he said and carefully moved around the ones he could see and he fired several energy blasts at Kelerot, who deflected them away from him and he took off from the ground, swerving around them and Vegeta chuckled, going in for a few punches.

"You have to avoid them yourself, do you?! You wouldn't be able to handle those pockets yourself if you fell in one of them, is that it?!" Vegeta yelled and the two continued blocking each other's blows as Kelerot grew more flustered and he caught Vegeta's fist in his hand.

"It's a small price to pay to see you sent to hell!" Kelerot yelled and aimed a destruction sphere attack at Vegeta and he batted it away, knocking it into a gravity pocket. The energy collided and exploded, surprising Kelerot as the pocket was no longer there afterwards.

"Destruction energy cancels those mines of yours. Guess you didn't factor that in, did you?" Vegeta said and Kelerot's eye twitched even more. He powered through Vegeta's barrage of fists, pushing back against them as he blocked them and he hit him hard in the face with a couple of hooks that forced Vegeta back and Kelerot planted his hand against his face, shoving him into one of the gravity fields, the intense gravity pushing Vegeta down into it and he was on his rear, the field pulling him slowly to the ground as he growled, moving up to get out of it and Kelerot clenched his fists.

"No you don't! I won't let you!" he said and with his hands he channeled energy into the gravity well and intensified the field that trapped Vegeta inside and Vegeta was howling from the pain he experienced as his entire body felt like it was tearing itself apart but he gritted his teeth as he closed his eyes and he brought his arms together slowly. Kelerot yelled as he put more force into it but Vegeta unleashed one final howl and his energy aura exploded outward, blowing Kelerot away into an antigravity pocket and the gravity field he was caught in was destroyed. Breathing heavily, he went on one knee, his arms shaking a bit. Kelerot unleashed a shout himself and neutralized the gravity well he was caught in and put a hand to his head, pulling at his hair and punching himself in the face.

"The aftereffects of your delving have finally caught up to you, have they? You can't control yourself anymore and it's tearing your mind apart!" Vegeta said and Kelerot put his hands through his hair, shaking his head.

"No! I'm in control! I'M IN CONTROL! I'LL SHOW YOU!" he howled and he conjured a large sphere of orange energy like Jiren's and launched it at Vegeta, who dodged out of the way. Parts of it were caught in gravity pockets and it distorted the sphere, causing it to explode.

"It's pointless using massive attacks when they won't be able to reach me. Your own technique will be your undoing, Kelerot," Vegeta said and Kelerot howled in agony.

"I have to kill Toppo. I have to kill Toppo! HE NEEDS TO PAY FOR WHAT HE DID!" Kelerot bellowed and Vegeta moved in high speed bursts to attack Kelerot but his fist was caught, and Kelerot's deranged look pierced right through him.

"I can make things right for everyone, Vegeta. I know I can," he said, his voice shaking in its lunacy. "If you'd just let me delve Whis, I can fix all of this!"

"You won't delve anyone anymore, not while I'm around," Vegeta said and went for another punch with his free hand but Kelerot caught that too and his eyes widened.

"Why won't you let me have this? I've done nothing to you!" Kelerot whined and Vegeta scowled at him.

"You've made a mockery of everything that we Saiyans hold dear. I don't give a damn about your revenge because you continue to dishonor and disgust me by calling yourself a Saiyan. You have no honor, no pride, no sense of self-worth and you threw that all away for your petty obsession to get back at one man."

"Petty obsession? PETTY OBESSION IS IT?!" Kelerot roared. "That one man took everything from me! You'll never understand what it means to live in hell your whole life, knowing you've done nothing wrong when everyone around you sees you as guilty regardless! The humiliation I have to endure!"

"You ignorant bastard…" Vegeta scowled, his tone darkening. "You're not the only one who's had a hell given to him by a monster. I've endured years under the rule of a tyrant, forced to do his bidding. That tyrant destroyed my homeworld and I swore I'd get back at him, much like you have. But I grew to accept that there were things beyond my control. I'd rather focus on what I could do as a warrior, as a Saiyan. I soon discovered there were things far more important than revenge. At least that way I could keep my pride."

His gaze intensified and Kelerot's eye twitched even more. "But your personal hell means nothing to me! At least have the dignity to die with some degree of pride, if you've ever had any to begin with!" Vegeta said and threw his arms out, freeing himself from Kelerot's grasp and he brought his hands together to fire another huge blast into Kelerot, blowing him back. Kelerot held his hands up to catch the beam before it could push him back completely and his face contorted in pure malice as he screamed and erased it with destruction energy. Kelerot soared down at blazing fast speed, using Dyspo's hyper speed mode to catch Vegeta off-guard and he rocked him hard in the gut with a punch. Vegeta gasped in shock and he punched Kelerot in retaliation squarely in the face. Kelerot pushed back against Vegeta's fist with his face and his eyes were twitching as he used Jiren's eye blast to blow Vegeta back hard, sending him flying towards an intense gravity pocket floating in mid-air and Vegeta stopped himself before he landed in the pocket, wiping his face with the back of his hand. He felt his energy fluctuate a bit and started to wonder if this form was starting to give out on him and he didn't realize how heavy his breathing was until he felt his chest expand and contract.

"Y-you're n-nearing your l-limit, Saiyan Prince," Kelerot said, his head jerking in spasms and Vegeta frowned, narrowing his eyes and gritting his teeth. He stared at Kelerot for a moment, glancing around him. Then a smile appeared on his face as he closed his eyes and Kelerot's head twitched again, putting a hand to it to try and control it and his breathing was intermixed with fits of laughter, his eyes twitching even more.

"You…you can't…you can't hold onto your p-power…heh. Hehehe," Kelerot stammered, and Vegeta opened his eyes, raising his hand with its palm facing upward.

Bringing his hand in towards him, he said: "Come."

Kelerot's eyes widened despite the twitching and he powered up with his intense dark purple aura and he flew in for an attack at Vegeta, who made a burst of speed to disappear and reappear behind him. He grabbed and held him in place with a full-nelson. Kelerot cried out as he tried to struggle free but was held tightly by Vegeta.

"LET GO OF ME!" he yelled and Vegeta grinned.

"Delve this, if you still can, and see what fate awaits you now," Vegeta whispered in his ear and Kelerot grunted. He grabbed Vegeta's arms, trying to pull them off, but he decided he'd try and delve into Vegeta again, actually reaching deep inside his energy with success. He stopped when he stumbled upon a clear memory Vegeta was showing him. It was a memory from years ago as Vegeta stood in front of the creature that healed him days ago, one arm limp and the other clenched into a fist. A strange "M" was drawn on Vegeta's forehead and he had a peaceful smile on his face. He watched the memory continue to play out as Vegeta let out a mighty howl and his energy exploded in a huge dome of energy, consuming all around him and enveloping the creature along with it and Kelerot knew what this attack was.

"No! No you can't! You mustn't! You'll die too if you use that!" he screamed and Vegeta laughed in his ear.

"A small price to pay if it means killing you, _Saiyan_ ," Vegeta said, mocking him with how he said the word and he built up energy around him, channeling his power to its peak. Kelerot struggled to free himself and cried out in panic and hysterics as he created a strong gravity field that surrounded Vegeta. He fired black hole bombs from his hand and fired some below him, snapping his fingers to draw them all together and opening themselves up into a large black hole that was pulling Vegeta down but his power was at a more intense level of energy that allowed him the strength to force himself to stay in place. Vegeta grunted and cried out in pain as the gravity well was pulling everything around it to its vortex in the middle. The trees from the forest uprooted and swirled inside, collapsing into nothing as it entered the event horizon and Vegeta growled in fury as he kept himself in place, holding Kelerot, who was struggling desperately to free himself.

"Please! You don't have to do this! I'm begging you, LET ME GO AND I'LL FIX EVERYTHING!"

"SHUT UP!" Vegeta said and he unleashed a powerful roar as his energy expanded and started consuming everything, Kelerot's face a mix of horror and desperation as his body and his screeching were swallowed by the light of Vegeta's final explosion.

The powerful energy field engulfed the whole planet, incinerating and destroying everything around it. The random pockets of gravity that Kelerot created were no longer there as they too were destroyed in the wake of the blast. The barrier Whis had erected was shattered completely as the intense white light expanded as large as a star, resembling a supernova and the energy output rocked the cosmos throughout the universe.

 **What needed to be addressed…**

When all the angels, Destroyers, and Kais gathered in the outer veranda of the Omni King's palace, the Grand Minister stood before them as they were all kneeling on one knee with their fist touching the ground. He nodded and they all rose back to their feet.

"Marcarita, Barbon, and Cae of the eleventh universe. Step forward if you would," he announced and the trio walked in front of everyone. All eyes were on them, silently watching as Marcarita bowed in front of him.

"Father."

"I understand why you all have chosen to meet me here at this time unannounced. I have been aware of the events that have transpired moments earlier in the seventh universe, due to the actions of the mortal from the eleventh universe," he stated and Marcarita hung her head low, averting her eyes and the Grand Minister walked over to her.

"You need not feel shame, daughter. Please, look at me," he said with a neutral gaze that still had a small grin on it and Marcarita lifted her head. Barbon and Cae both bowed deeply at him.

"If blame is to be assigned, let it be upon us, your excellency," Cae said, lowering his gaze so that it stared directly at the tiles on the floor and the Grand Minster shook his head.

"What has been done has been deemed so according to the Network of Fates that reside in the grand archive of the first universe. It has been brought to my attention some time ago that this mortal is tied significantly to the Network. Awamo?"

The angel of the first universe stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Your excellency, brothers and sisters and honorable gods of the multiverse. It has been foretold in the Network that Lord Beerus's time was coming to an end and by extension the Supreme Kai of the seventh universe through their lifelink. Since Whis no longer has a Destroyer to serve as attendant, he has been 'deactivated' until another Destroyer has been chosen to replace him. According to the laws we have established since the covenant of angels and gods were birthed, the one who has carried out the death of the Destroyer must then therefore replace him. If not, then a successor of the angel's and the Destroyer's choosing will ascend to take his rightful place. As we speak, those very two mortals are engaged in a life and death struggle on Lord Beerus's planet."

Murmurs among the other gods and angels were now being heard and the Grand Minister raised his hand to quiet them down.

"I am also considering the Omni Kings' opinion on this matter and I ask that they weighed in their decision. If this means the destruction of the seventh universe, then so be it. We will carry onward with only eleven universes remaining and conduct our duties as usual."

Awamo looked uneasy as he heard that, since the calculations that were made in the Network of Fates considered the destruction of the seventh universe, and even that wasn't going to prevent what was bound to happen if the current option was not fulfilled. Awamo felt hesitant in bringing this up and bit his tongue as the Omni Kings and their guards floated in from their chamber.

"Your eminences, it is an honor to grace your presence," the Grand Minister said and everyone knelt before the two Zenos.

"Huh? Why is everyone gathered here?" asked Present Zeno as he looked up at the angels and the gods and Grand Minister bowed at the two, hand to his chest.

"It has come to our attention your excellencies that there is a mortal who has been using one of the Forsaken techniques and is currently engaged in battle with the mortal named Vegeta from the seventh universe."

"Huh? Which one?" said Future Zeno.

"Kinetic Delving, your highness," the Grand Minister replied and the Zenos looked at each other.

"Is it bad, what he's doing?" said one of them.

"Has he been destroying planets?" asked the other.

"So far there has been minimal damage to the eleventh universe and the seventh has remained intact as usual. However, through use of his kinetic delving, he has managed to destroy Lord Beerus and the Supreme Kai and has acquired the abilities of Lord Barbon and Supreme Kai Cae."

"Oh, I see." Said Present Zeno.

"Then we'll need a new Destroyer then, won't we?" Future Zeno noted.

"It has been discussed, of course," the Grand Minister alluded and the Zenos could see a distressed look on Awamo's face and they tilted their heads out of curiosity.

"Is he okay?" Present Zeno said as he pointed him out to the Grand Minister.

"Hmm, it looks like something is bothering him," said the future Zeno and the Grand Minister glanced at Awamo, who swallowed as he was still on one knee, glancing up at the Zenos occasionally.

"Speak, child. What is troubling you so?" he asked Awamo and he nodded, allowing him to stand up.

"I must ask if you are considering destroying the seventh universe, your excellencies," Awamo asked and the Zeno's heads tilted the other direction.

"Hmm. Do you want us to destroy the seventh universe?" said Present Zeno.

"Isn't that the universe where Goku lives?" asked Future Zeno and The Grand Minister nodded.  
"Of course, your excellencies. It has been a while since you've last seen him."

"Yeah, he was really fun."

"He fought that great battle in the Tournament, didn't he?"

"Yeah! It was so much fun!"

"I know! I'd love to see it again!"

The two Zenos grabbed their hands and twirled around each other, giggling happily and Awamo felt like this meant they weren't going to destroy the seventh universe after all and he wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but the weight of this development from the Network of Fates continued to press down on him and he put his fist down on the ground, the other draped across his leg.

"I take this as your willingness to keep the seventh universe intact, then?" Awamo asked carefully and the Zenos put a finger to their chins, then nodded.

"Yeah, it can stay, I don't mind. I'd love to see fun Goku again."  
"Yeah, let's see fun Goku again!"

"Of course, your excellencies. On the matter of the mortal with the forsaken technique, what is it you wish to do with him?" the Grand Minister addressed, drawing their attention back to the matter at hand and they paused, looking at each other, and then back at him.

"He doesn't sound scary though." Said Present Zeno. "He doesn't sound like he's a threat." Added Future Zeno and Awamo nodded.

"Will his fate be left for a future date, then?" Awamo asked and the Zenos glanced at each other again.

"Hmm. Will he replace Beerus as the new Destroyer?" asked Future Zeno.

"If you wish it, we can make it so," the Grand Minister said, bowing at them.

"Can his Kinetic Delving be removed?" asked Present Zeno and the Grand Minister grinned.

"If you wish it, we can capture him and extract the forsaken technique from him," he said and the Zenos both nodded in agreement.

"That's okay."

"Will you bring fun Goku here?" Future Zeno asked and the Grand Minister bowed his head again.  
"Of course. We will make the proper arrangements per your request," he said and the Zenos both smiled and waved at everyone before they floated back into their chamber with their guards and after they left, the tension lifted from the area as everyone stood back up.

"Then it has been decided in accordance with the Omni Kings. We will bring Kelerot here and arrange to extract and delete all knowledge of Kinetic Delving in his mind and have him replace Lord Beerus as Destroyer of the seventh universe. We will also look to the sacred Kaishin tree to select a new Supreme Kai to link with him as soon as possible. Dismissed."

Awamo wanted to speak but when the Grand Minister dismissed everyone, he turned and floated back into the Omni Kings' chamber and he sighed, hanging his head. Anat and Iwen walked up to him.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. It is what it is," Iwen said and Awamo bowed at him.

"Lord Iwen, I normally do not freeze up like this in front of father but the predicament unveiled by the Network of Fates has caused me great distress."

He glanced over at the group from the tenth universe and eyed Cus, their angel attendant and he whispered to the gods: "It's very imperative that Cus is not made aware of our discovery. Perhaps not bringing this to father's attention was for the best after all."

Iwen and Anat both immediately turned their gaze at Cus, who spotted them and waved at them with a smile on her face, her cute petite frame looking as joyous as always and they both bowed their heads at her. She looked the youngest but she was the first of the Grand Minister's children to exist and she commanded a lot of respect, even though the universe she attended had a less than favorable mortal rating according to the Omni Kings.

The respective trios from each universe shared their brief pleasantries one last time before they all teleported back to their respective universes and the trio from the first universe was the last to leave. Awamo glanced one last time at the chamber doors to the Omni Kings' room and frowned before Anat teleported them back.

 **Ascension…**

In a deep pocket of the seventh universe, a grand explosion had taken place. A flash of light that shone as brightly as a star illuminated the cosmos for a brief moment before it subsided. Debris from a destroyed planet floated aimlessly across space, shards of trees and a purple pyramid floated around and bumped into each other. Chunks of a larger tree and a building bumped off each other as well.

There was an electrical storm that surged around the area, remnants of the explosion and among the debris were three bodies. One of them was Vegeta, the Saiyan prince. He had jet black hair and a torn up blue spandex uniform with cracked armor plating that had been broken up from the intense battle that took place earlier, half of it completely gone. His gloves were ripped apart, revealing the skin underneath and the legs and feet had been exposed completely. The body's skin looked rough and nearly stonelike but still had the semblance of flesh.

The second body was Whis, a blue skinned and slender angel with white hair that flared up naturally. His robes were still pristine, clean, and organized with his staff drifting apart from his body. He floated face down and the blue halo that was around his neck was no longer there.

The third, Kelerot from the eleventh universe, had simian-like features, his Kachitite robes torn up and ripped from battle damage. His body was considerably damaged as well, most of his body scorched and cut everywhere. His body drifted face-up towards Whis, their bodies approaching each other until they bumped together. Kelerot's hand grazed across Whis's body and a reaction took place. His body jerked once, then a couple more times until his eyes and mouth burst open with lights shooting outward from inside. A white glow surrounded his body and it began enveloping him completely, changing him. His once dark brown fur that had changed to a darker color with purple tips was shifting colors, the tone fading into a lighter color. It shifted to the same white color as Whis's hair and the body flashed once before it vanished completely out of sight, leaving Whis and Vegeta drifting among the debris.

 **End of Part 1**


	32. Author's Note

**Author's note**

Hello 😊,

I can't believe how long its been since I started writing this fanfic and I'm happy to see how it has turned out.

I got the inspiration to write this after I finished watching the Tournament of Power saga in Dragonball Super. Watching the big epic fights, Ultra Instinct Goku versus Jiren, ideas were starting to come into my head about writing a story that took place where Dragonball GT started, after the five year skip after the end of Dragonball Z.

As I was writing it, news came out that there was going to be a new Dragonball movie coming out with Broly as the focal character involved and the more I got to read up on how different he was than his earlier villain counterpart from the Z movies and the introduction of Cheelai and Lemo, the wheels began spinning in my head that I could completely re-write Ascension into a much stronger story, but not without tackling a personal project of mine. I follow artists on twitter who've drawn great artwork and even their NSFW art looked amazing, showcasing their creative talent and writing ability as they wove a narrative behind these characters we've loved over the years.

I wanted to write an adult fanfic before I'd go back into re-working Ascension and Spiced-up Broccoli was what emerged from my brain onto computer screen. I do intend on re-writing the story into a non-adult prequel to Ascension, adding more depth to the growing friendship between Broly, Lemo, and Cheelai, because I really love writing these characters, especially Lemo XD.

I'm happy that Toriyama left it open to interpretation with regards to these characters because anyone can write them how they see things happening and the major consensus is that we've all pretty much shipped Broly and Cheelai as a couple. I took that idea and ran with it and throughout my writing of Ascension, I was able to build characters through their children and how they're able to interact with the Dragonball cast.

I needed to set this at the start of Dragonball GT. GT brought to us cool concepts during the first major arc but because the major criticism of the series was that GT = Goku Time, it made it hard to bear seeing great secondary characters not get the proper development they deserved and I honestly didn't like how Pan, Bra (Bulla), and Uub were portrayed. They became side characters to Goku's story again and I wanted to give them an arc for themselves, and what better way to do that then a world tournament (Budokai). I wanted to bring back the fun battles that were done in Dragonball and writing fighting sequences between characters challenges me as a writer to dictate a narrative for a shounen fight you normally see in anime, especially when it comes to a Dragonball fight.

I also really like the concept of the Baby arc and the Tsufurian race and wondered how I could incorporate this into the story and have it make sense and the idea came to me of the bio-android creations made by Cooler.

Then you also have more characters introduced in the Broly movie such as Berryblue and like Lemo and Cheelai, there's more to her than you initially see and I see her play a much larger role in the Freeza Force, something that will be explored further in Part 2 when I get around to writing it.

I've held onto the name of Kelerot for a Saiyan name since way back in the early 2000s when I first began writing fanfics, being a DBZ fanboy during the early English dub era with the Falconer soundtrack. I geeked hard on the Cell saga and I loved the characters of 17 and 18, easily becoming my favorites. Seeing them brought back to the limelight in Super with their respective roles was awesome to see and I knew I could fit them in easily throughout.

My first draft of Ascension pegged Kelerot in a more villainous role and looking back on it I didn't like it and writing this over again made me flesh him out in a much better format where his progression into a villain made more sense as I was writing him. I knew he was going to become the principal antagonist of the story but I didn't want it to be solely about him, knowing how easily you can incorporate original characters into a pre-established world. I had to carefully write him in a way that his interaction with the Dragonball characters made sense and writing from their point of view had to also make sense.

While no one can ever completely match Toriyama's style of writing and humor for his characters, I did my best to stay as faithful to the characters as I could, making sure that those we've seen in GT got better development. I knew that I wanted Pan and Uub to be together, I see them have great chemistry and for Bra/Bulla I wanted to develop her character as a healthy mix of Vegeta's desire to train and fight and Bulma's intelligence and beauty, something I feel Bulla occasionally loves to boast about.

Now to address a few topics I'm sure my readers have been wondering about:

1\. Power scaling.

This was tricky to write. If I had to bring in Cooler into the story, he definitely needed to be scaled up considerably to even have the ability to handle his own, but against someone like Broly he had no chance, lol. True form Tundral is essentially a Cooler redesign with extra features to the exterior plating, with Tundra and Glacial being the separate beings that were designed to merge as one when the need arose to create a formidable opponent. Tundral served as the main antagonist for the Z fighters and I knew he/they needed to be defeated by the end of Part 1, leaving the consequences of their actions to spill over onto Part 2, which will be the main plot point of that part (there'll likely be 3 parts to this Ascension arc).

Jiren is for all intents and purposes a really bland character. I'm sorry to the Jiren fans out there but writing him was far more challenging than anything else in the story and I honestly had no real good ideas to work with. He's the generic strong man of the group with a tragic backstory that is as basic as you can get. Killing him off was a last-minute decision of mine when I wrote the chapter of the fight between him and Kelerot, because I was playing around with some ideas of whether he'd stay alive, or he was found by Goku later and Goku motivated him to get back up and fight back and the two would team up against Kelerot. Those were very early ideas I had and I'm glad I didn't go that route.

In terms of power levels, GT's model seems about as accurate as you can get. Gohan cleverly balanced his training with his scholar career so he doesn't come off as weak again like he was at the beginning of Super. He's at least as strong as True Golden Freeza by this point in the story with his Ultimate power but it could be limitless as far as I know. He's also a team player which was why I didn't write him defeating Tundral by himself.

Bulla and Pan's fusion into Bulpan was something I wanted to have realized when I thought of Bulla as more a fighter in this timeline than her "shopping obsessed" persona in GT. Super Saiyan 2 Bulpan (which might still happen 😉) is stronger than Tundral when she goes all out, but because he had been weakened over his battle with Choi and Gohan, he was easier to handle with simply base form Bulpan and Super Saiyan Bulpan to finish the job. They have similar confidence issues like Gotenks but doesn't play around when its time to get serious.

Goku is about the same in strength as he was in the start of GT and writing him the way I did I tried to make as much sense about his power as I could. He still holds a desire to train hard but knew that he saw Uub as a worthy successor to protect Earth from danger and he decided to take on a mentor role for Buu's reincarnation.

As for Uub, it bothered me how he was completely wasted as a character in GT. Why build up the notion of Goku wanting Buu to be reincarnated as a good person if you weren't going to do anything more with it at the start of GT? How would Uub react once he found out he's the reincarnation of an entity created from all the evil of the universe and wrecked havoc killing people in the trillions over millions of years? I knew I had to write how he handled the news and how traumatic the experience was, but the interaction between Goku and Uub as teacher to student was necessary and a vintage Goku character moment. As for whether Majuub will be a thing, I do plan on having that happen in Part 2 when Uub plays an even bigger heroic role in the story.

2\. Transformations.

I know a lot of us had reservations over how many transformations we've seen in Super. Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue, Super Saiyan Rosé, Ultra Instinct Sign, Mastered Ultra Instinct, Golden Freeza, the list goes on and on.

Crystal Freeza I felt was something he needed to achieve to keep him as a force to be reckoned with when it comes to powerful characters like Jiren and Broly, and even the Destroyers. We still honestly don't know how powerful the Destroyers really are since Beerus has never fought as full power (and never will because he dead now, lol). I know I can't write him as being too OP but lets just say you need to hit him really really hard to crack his crystal plating XD.

I knew Goku needed to lose badly in this fight. It wasn't because he's gotten weaker or relaxed too much while training Uub, it was just that Freeza's a prodigy in his bloodline and he did a considerable amount of mental training over the time period between the current arc of Super and the beginning of GT, so roughly less than ten years. If he can scale up quickly in four months to unlock Golden Freeza, imagine the kind of power he would wield if he was training for ten years 😉.

With regards to Vegeta, I got the idea from Masako X's Super Saiyan color theory series on his youtube channel and purple/violet hadn't been explored yet. There's still a couple of colors that hadn't yet been introduced in the main cannon and when I researched the color of purple in terms of chakras, it fit the kind of character Vegeta was and I felt that this could be his highest tier Super Saiyan God transformation, True Super Saiyan God, or Super Saiyan God 2 or Super Saiyan Violet/Purple. Since there's so many mutations in the mortal version of Super Saiyan, having a similar tiered structure and stages would also be a factor in God ki when they started being able to tap into it. Vegeta has been training non-stop for ten years to perfect God ki as much as possible and it was hinted earlier in the story that he was close to unlocking True Super Saiyan God when the moment came. Factoring in his Spirit Control training from Yardrat gave him a better understanding on how to control God ki and merged the two forms of training together to unlock this new form. This puts him on par with the Destroyers and at full power he would actually be strong enough to defeat Jiren, strength for strength.

Early on, I incorporated the bit from the end of Super that Goku forgot how to tap into Ultra Instinct, and as I'm reading the Moro arc of the manga, it was shown that Goku can tap into the sign form at will and I had to adjust the narrative a bit. Because there's a long gap between when I first wrote Goku forgetting Ultra Instinct to knowing how to do it, I know I have to re-write the early chapters to put everything together so it all makes sense. There's a reason why he couldn't tap into Ultra Instinct during his fight with Freeza and I dropped a hint that he and Broly might not be dead just yet 😉.

3\. Where to go from here.

So basically, I'm going to re-work the early chapters to fit more with the later chapters since it's been months since I wrote them. Then I can say this part will be complete and I can start working on Part 2 later.

I have other writing projects I want to work on, such as a series of scenes from the actual show that I want to narrate in a novel-style format, a sort of writing exercise for me to practice with so I can improve my ability to write better.

Write a SFW version of Spiced-up Broccoli and expand on it a bit to incorporate more space adventures with the lovely trio from Vampa 😊. It'll also serve as a decent prequel to Ascension where I can expand a bit on the world building of the seventh universe.

Two adult fanfics, one involving Chichi and Goku, and the other with Bulma and Krillin during their trek across space to Namek early on in DBZ after the end of the Saiyan saga. It'll be interesting to write this one, lol.

Once I've got all of these out of the way, I can go into Part 2 with a clear head and a goal to achieve. I've got a couple of plot points in mind for Part 2 but the rest of it will be uncharted territory. I plan on giving a lot of the main Dragonball cast screen time so the mystery of what happened to Kelerot remains up in the air.

Despite all the chaos that's been going on around the world, I want to use this time to focus on writing and getting these ideas down on the computer screen for my followers to read and enjoy.

Take care and keep up to date. Make sure you follow my profile for up-to-date fanfics and chapters, I'll do my best to keep updating.

Cheers.


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